


Anything

by Accal1a



Series: Anything 'Verse [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: 17 Years Old Jasper & Monty, Aftermath of Violence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Jasper, BAMF Monty, Consensual, Dubious Consent, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's now 16; but I've left the underage tag just in case, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Pre-Series, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexual Content, The UK have changed their ruling on same sex age of consent, The non-con isn't Jonty, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 13:08:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 32
Words: 43,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3489398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accal1a/pseuds/Accal1a
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Monty's on the run after being caught stealing drugs on the Ark.  - Jasper won't accept that and goes looking for him.</p><p>And looking for him.</p><p>And looking for him. - I mean basically this is Jasper so he's just never going to stop looking for him is he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is essentially my take on why Jasper was arrested on the Ark, with intrigue and drugs and more twists than I originally planned!
> 
> Archive warnings for Underage as I'm UK based and in the UK you have to be over 18 for M/M interactions. I've also tagged 'Non-Con' - it's mostly implied rather than overt (with one interaction which is overt - this is stated quite clearly at the top of the Chapter) but I don't want anyone being surprised and triggered by it - thanks to mahealaheys for pointing this out to me! There is DEFINITELY violence in it.

It wasn't really about getting high, although that was a nice side effect. It was more about spending time together, chatting about anything and everything: what they’d do if they weren’t born on the Ark; what the Earth was like; what oceans were like; how their ancestors had got it all wrong; and what their ancestors had done right.

The closeness they both felt was frequently dismissed. They’d known each other forever, it was like this for all friends, they were just in an altered state.

~~~

It took a while for anyone to realise that anything was wrong. 

When Monty disappeared it was thought that he was hiding somewhere on the Ark, a fugitive from the obvious justice which needed to be imparted. The drugs which had been taken (and not replaced) were traced back to Monty’s room and, being under 18, he was sentenced to time in the Skybox. Everyone just assumed he was on the run, hiding somewhere not wanting to go to prison. They assumed that he would be found pretty quickly; because there were only a finite number of places to hide in a space station. It was foolish, the gossipers said, because there was nowhere to go. They would eventually find him and, when they did, his going on the run would count against him.

~~~

By Day 4, Jasper was utterly convinced that Monty had _not_ run off. He’d known that from the start really; but he’d talked himself round a few times, assuming it was just wishful thinking on his part. The length of time that had now passed though meant that he was starting to get concerned. For one thing, he didn’t think Monty would have done so without somehow getting a message to him; but the other thought, the one that just would not be squashed, no matter how much he tried, was that Monty wouldn’t have run at all.

They’d discussed it, in one of their drug-induced hazes, of course they had, what to do if they were caught. They said they’d go down together for starters. If they were over 18 they’d both float; and if they weren’t, they’d downplay everything as much as possible, see it as a wake up, and hopefully get let out. There was no way that Monty would have run.

Except no-one would listen to Jasper when he started asking questions. 

He’d been interviewed by the guards in very short order; and multiple times since. He’d tried to turn the conversation around to ask for help during the last interview, when he’d finally been exasperated with the repetitive questions. No, he didn’t know where Monty was. Yes, he would tell them if he did (which, to be fair, he wouldn’t; so he could see why the guards got hung up on that one). All they heard, over and over again was a friend lying to cover up the mistake of another friend. No amount of probing on his part would get them to pay attention.

That was when he decided that he needed to go back to the source. 

He’d been purposely avoiding his other set of parents. He wasn’t entirely sure what they thought of him at the moment and he didn’t want to disappoint them. For some reason making Monty’s parents upset and disappointed was worse than doing the same to his own, Jasper wasn’t sure why.

~~~

Jasper stood outside the Green’s door and bounced, then he slid to the floor and moped, then he got up and paced. Periodically he would pound on the door just on the off chance that his surrogate parents had somehow slipped past him without him noticing.

It was all of this nervous activity which meant that he was right there the moment that the guard arrived, banging on the door so loudly it actually shook, all the while shouting for the occupants. Jasper wanted to mention that they weren’t in but instead chose to shrink as much as possible against the corridor wall so that he could see what was going on and hopefully not be shooed along. Jasper knew the Green’s weren’t in and he was confused as to why the guards were even there. Surely they knew that they were botanists for the Ark and would be at their work station, not home in the middle of the day.

After a final shout and knock, the door opened, surprising Jasper. A dishevelled face poked it’s head out of the crack.

“Yes?” Inquired the new man.

It was a near-thing but Jasper managed to cover his mouth with a twitching hand before all of the questions bubbled out. Why hadn’t they been answering to him earlier? Why was Mr Green looking so unkempt when he was normally so put together? Why was he home in the middle of the day?

“Where’s your wife, Sir?” spoke the gruff guard, shortly but nevertheless politely.

“She’s not…” the man started and Jasper had never seen his second dad so rattled.

“I’m here.” A quiet voice said from further within the cabin.

Monty’s dad spun around; and just before Jasper lost sight of him, he saw the look of complete anguish ghosting the older man's face. It was a look which he had never seen before and whether by intuition or foreknowledge, Jasper immediately knew what was going to happen. He felt his eyes pool with tears, even as he was unable to tear them away from the scene unfolding in front of him.

“Mrs Green, you are being detained for the crime of stealing crops and drug dealing. Both of these are capital crimes. You will be remanded in custody until tomorrow morning, whereby, in accordance with the Ark Charter, you will be executed.”

Jasper gasped, confusion evident on his face. He watched in horror as his second mum was cuffed and lead away. He turned to her husband and managed to get out “What…” before the door slammed shut in his face.

He beat his hand bloody knocking on the door; but Monty’s dad didn’t answer. After a while, he simply sunk to the floor in the corridor and pulled his knees to his chest, hugging them, trying to make himself as small as possible. 

He had no idea what was going on but he knew that it was bigger than him and Monty taking and replacing plants occasionally. There was no way that Mrs Green would have dealt drugs, which meant something else was happening.

He wanted to get up straight away and find out what was going on; but he was exhausted and his legs wouldn’t cooperate when he tried to stand. Instead, leaning his head on his knees, he stared at the corridor wall for hours, hoping that something would click into place; because right now? Nothing made any sense at all.


	2. Chapter 2

Monty flinched from the sound of the door opening, wondering what was happening now. The small amount of light from the corridor that spilled into the dark space he was in was painful to his eyes. They were so accustomed to the dark by this point that he was starting to forget what light was.

A tray was pushed into the space, clattering across the floor and coming to a stop against his outstretched leg. The door was quickly closed and locked again. The interaction had taken only seconds. 

He lent forwards to pull the tray towards him, feeling with his hands for the corners, the room once more in total darkness.

He swore quietly when he managed to put his fingers in the water cup and nearly knocked the whole thing over. He sucked his fingers so as not to waste the moisture and tried again. The bite of the cord around his middle was starting to become unbearable and if he didn't pick the tray up soon he would have to abandon it for a few minutes before starting again.

He was beginning to lose track of time.

When he'd first woken up in the dark space, he refused to charitably call it a 'room', he'd assumed that he was passed out from a fun evening with Jasper and that the headache he was sporting was related to a particularly potent batch of plants. In those first few seconds he’d forgotten the bizarre course of events that had led him here.

Opening his eyes changed all of that. 

He opened them and was confused because the room continued to be dark. He even waggled his fingers in front of his face to check. After that, he wondered whether he was blind. Whether whatever they'd taken had finally had a physical toll on his body.

He called out for Jasper, who was always there when he woke up from the evenings activities. He attempted to stand as he did so and that was when he realised that there was a cord around his midriff, keeping him seated on the floor.

His hands immediately went to work trying to move it away and then reaching around behind him to try to find out if he could free himself from whatever mess he'd gotten himself into this time. It was only when he couldn't find an end to the cord and his fingers were starting to ache from the search that he started to become concerned and try to back-track his evening. 

He'd been excited because he'd managed to get a bit of the new plant his mum had been working on. He remembered running round the corridors of the Ark, already high on the prospect of sharing it with Jasper, already amused by what wacky conversations he'd be able to have with his best friend that evening.

Then he'd run smack into a guard and the evening had changed from his plan.

The guard stopped him from apologising and running off by questioning where he was going in a hurry. Whatever babbling excuse he'd made had clearly not been good enough because he'd then been told to stand against the wall and empty out his pockets. That was the point that he realised he was going to the Skybox.

Without Jasper.

He'd always assumed, no KNOWN, that him and Jasper would be arrested together if it ever happened. That they'd be together in prison, be together in death if it came to that but the very idea of him going through this alone was unreal. 

When the guard found the plant he laughed and Monty thought he heard him mutter something about this being a perfect addition. 

The guard cuffed him to a strut whilst he spoke into his radio and Monty idly wondered whether the reason all the struts in the walls had small holes was for that purpose. 

"Transporting one juvenile, Monty Green, for theft of, and intention to use, plants from the botany laboratory."

There was no response from the radio and the silence stretched.

"How do you know my name?" Monty inquired, confusion evident in his voice.

"You told me." The guard responded quickly.

"No.” Monty paused checking his memory before he carried on. “I didn't." He carried on slowly, looking the guard up and down.

"Hardly matters now, does it? You're a fugitive." The guard smirked, actually SMIRKED, at him.

"What?" Monty said, worry starting to seep into his confusion.

"I called in an arrest and before I could catch you, you ran off. It was a shame really because that sort of thing would really count against you when you came up for review." The guard said, seeming to really be concerned for his wellbeing.

The cold feeling that had been seeping into Monty's veins was total now and he started struggling against his bonds. "What the hell are you talking about?" He shouted, hoping someone would hear him.

Then the guard moved very quickly and the world went black.

~~~

Allowing himself to come back to the present, he finally reached the tray and ate and drank. There was no use refusing the food as he needed his strength for when the time came to fight. He was sure now that that was what was going to happen. He hadn’t been arrested at all. For one thing, if he had, he’d have been in the Skybox now and there were many things the Skybox was but a solitary confinement where you were tied was not one of them.

He drew strength from the fact that they (whoever 'they' were) were keeping him alive for a reason. They hadn't hurt him, aside from knocking him out and apart from the dark he wasn't being mistreated. 

The fear rose up, unbidden, at least once a day (although he had no real idea about time) How had this guard known his name? Was the guy even a guard? Why was it good he was a fugitive?

His parents must have been going spare. He occasionally didn't come home but it was always because he was at Jasper's, on the pull out cot which their parents had had to build in each of their rooms many years ago. Jasper's parents were his second family.

When his thoughts rested on Jasper they switched between wishing he was here and being incredibly glad he wasn’t. He didn’t think Jasper would have coped well with the dark and the lack of knowledge about what was going on. Monty always thought that Jasper was one tragedy away from going completely crazy and that was one of the many reasons he never wanted anything to ever be tragic for him.

It wasn't actually until what he thought was day 2 that his brain supplied the idea that maybe Jasper was similarly confined, without him. He lost it for a few hours after that thought, crying and pulling at the cord so much that he made his fingertips bleed. When he'd exhausted himself he tried shouting for a while but no one came running. He wondered where in the Ark he could be that no-one could hear him when he shouted.

After that he decided to bide his time and wait for an opening. They couldn't keep him here forever and when they finally came back and he was able to fight, he would do. This wasn't where he died. This wasn't how it ended.


	3. Chapter 3

Jasper must have fallen asleep leaning against his knees. He jerked awake and a shooting pain shot down his spine. His legs protested when he straightened them out and he had a crick in his neck.

It took him a minute to remember why he was sitting on the floor outside the Green’s cabin and when he did a cold wave of fear went through him. How long had it been since his surrogate mum was arrested? Why wasn’t his surrogate dad talking to him? And, overriding all other thoughts, where the HELL was Monty?

He stood up slowly, his body protesting and his hands aching, blood crackling as he stretched out his fingers.

He knocked on the door again out of habit but no-one answered. He hadn’t really expected the door to open, but he had hoped.

Realising that his own parents were probably worried, he stretched and walked back to his cabin, pausing only to stop in one of the many public toilets to scrub his hands clean with a sort of abrasive gel. It stung his wounds but he found that he welcomed the pain as if the sting was bringing him back to himself. There was nothing he could do about the grazes which peppered his hands and he knew his mum would jump on him about it but he couldn't wish himself healed. Not going home would upset her more.

Even so, his steps slowed as he got closer to his cabin, slowed as he wondered what he was going to say to his family about where he had been, what he was going to explain to them about his theories about where Monty had gone and how he was supposed to get his parents to believe him that Mr Green was keeping something from him.

In the end, he needn’t have worried as much as he did. As he turned the corner which led to the corridor where his cabin was situated he spotted a guard once again knocking on his door.

“Thank you for coming.” His mum said, answering the door and ringing her hands as she did so.

“Not at all, Mrs Jordan. What seems to be the problem?” The guard answered politely.

“My son, Jasper…” she started and then happened to looked around the guards shoulder and straight into Jasper’s eyes. “JASPER!” she exclaimed, pushing past the guard and running to hug her son. 

She was a good foot shorter than him but he still felt comforted in her embrace. The guard looked away, seemingly unsure how to act to this new development.

Mrs Jordan stopped hugging Jasper for a moment and still holding on to him stepped back slightly to appraise him. After she had scrutinised his face, she seemed satisfied and backed up. Jasper was pleased his hands had gone into his back pockets after the embrace or he wasn’t sure this next part would have gone well.

“I’m sorry to have wasted your time; it seems that my son is not, after all, missing.” Mrs Jordan said to the guard, looking at him apologetically.

The guard waved off her apology. “It happens all of the time; it’s no problem at all. Have a good afternoon.” And with that, he started to walk off.

“Wait!” Shouted Jasper, jogging a few steps to get closer to the guard. “Have you found Monty yet?”

The guard’s demeanour changed completely. He grew stiff and seemed to grow a few inches. “Mr Green continues to evade capture.” He said in a clipped voice.

“But, he’s not a fugitive, he’s missing!” Jasper tried again.

The guard patted Jasper on the shoulder. “Sure he is, Son.” And with that he walked off, leaving a frustrated Jasper in his wake.

~~~

Not knowing what else to do, Jasper followed his mother back into the cabin when she opened the door for him and he slumped down on the sofa, unsure what more to say.

“Honey…” His mum started.

Jasper looked up, pulling his hands out of his pockets and smoothing his trousers down in an absent fidgeting gesture; His mother wasn’t looking and realising what he had done he quickly sat on his hands.

“Honey, I heard about Monty. Are you okay?”

It was completely the wrong thing to say. 

Was he okay? 

No he wasn’t okay! His BEST FRIEND was missing and no-one seemed to care. He was in the dark and his other dad wouldn’t help him to understand what was going on. His other mum was going to float for crimes which it seemed highly unlikely that she had committed. 

Was he okay? 

No he wasn’t okay! He was coming apart at the seams. Half of him had disappeared and he didn’t know how to get it back. 

The fact that she couldn’t see that was incredibly upsetting because she was supposed to be his mum; she was supposed to know when her only son was in such a huge amount of pain he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to hold it in much longer. The urge to burst into tears and crawl into his mother’s lap until everything made sense again was very strong. He just wanted some clarity about how his whole world had come crushing down in a matter of days. 

Was he okay? 

Was he OKAY? 

No, he wasn’t okay. 

“I’m fine Mum, just tired.” He paused. “I think I’m going to go and have a lie down.” He stood up, towering over his mother, hands once again in his pockets. He quickly kissed her on the cheek and walked off.

“Okay sweetie, I’ll wake you in time for us to go down to the canteen for dinner.” 

“Fine Mum, thanks.” He called over his shoulder before closing the door to his room and sliding down it.

Then he really did cry, perfect tears ran in tracks down his face, pooling on his trousers where he was leaning his head forward. Tears that weren’t for any specific reason or any specific emotion just an emptying of himself out into the world, an outpouring that he didn’t know had started and didn’t know how to stop. A lot had happened in the course of a few days and he didn’t know what he was crying for more and worse still didn’t know how he was going to fix what was so obviously broken. Periodically he wiped his face in annoyance but the tears kept falling, his lip wobbling as he tried to pull himself together.

Eventually he just dried up. The tears stopped and with them a resolve seemed to settle inside him, a strength he hadn't known he had.

He stood, wiped his face with his hands one last time and opened the door to his room again.

“I’m going to see Mr Green, Mum.”

His mum stopped pottering for a moment. “Okay honey; be back in time to go to the canteen.” 

“I will.” Jasper responded, moving quickly to the door, his hands swinging freely. He realised a second too late that his hands were on display.

“Jasper! What happened to your hands?” She asked in a slightly higher pitch than normal, swooping down on him and bringing one of his hands to her face.

“Nothing, Mum.” Jasper said quickly, pulling his hand away.

“Don’t you ‘nothing Mum’ me, Jasper Jordan!” She responded, hands on her hips.

“I fell Mum; it’s not a big deal.” Jasper tried to inject a bashful tone into his voice. It wasn't too much of a stretch, he was accident prone and this wouldn't be the first time he'd been told off for it.

“You’ve got to be more careful, sweetie.” She said, hands falling to her sides, no longer indignant. “I know you’ve got your dad’s feet but you need to be less clumsy, especially if you’re going to be a chemist. Accidents around the lab are dangerous. It won’t be just a scraped knee or broken toe, okay?”

“Okay, Mum. Sorry. I’ll be more careful.” Jasper said, going for contrite and hoping this would close the subject.

She appraised him one last time, seeming to stare at him for longer than necessary. Obviously what she saw passed muster because she simply said. “Good. I’ll see you later.” and gestured at the door.

Jasper let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding and left the cabin quickly before she could ask him any other questions.

~~~

He walked as fast as he could to the Green’s cabin, the path so clear in his mind he could have done it blindfolded. 

He couldn’t count the number of times him and Monty had run back and forth between their assigned homes, often racing to see who would get there first.

When they were kids, they would play a game which involved one of them sneaking up behind the other one and then standing completely still if the other one looked at them. It kept them amused for hours and made them giggle a lot when other people would walk down the corridor and wonder what was going on.

Jasper passed a dent in the wall which had been made during a particularly energetic game of ‘catch the goggles’. He smiled and was about to turn to Monty to remind him, before he realised what he was doing.

He got to the Green’s cabin without any further nostalgia creeping into his thoughts and he knocked once more on the door and once more there was no answer.

Pounding on the door with his fist, causing the metal to shake, Jasper shouted. “You might as well let me in Dad; I’m not going anywhere until you do!”

He carried on pounding for another few minutes and then he heard the click of the lock. Moments later the door opened.

Mr Green looked even worse than he had done the last time he’d seen him. All light seemed to have left him and the twinkling in his eyes which Monty had inherited was absent.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Jasper said, his voice catching slightly at the end of the sentence.

“You’d better come in Jasper.” Was all the response he got. The door was left open as Mr Green turned and walked into the cabin, looking defeated.

Jasper suddenly wasn’t sure he wanted to follow him, but he did so, taking in the familiar cabin. A longing so deep it was like a physical thing clanged around his insides. Monty should have been here, he always knew what to say in these sorts of situations. Jasper would mess it up and say the wrong thing and get flustered and then not be able to carry on. He wasn’t programmed to be supportive, to be the strong one. He wasn't the leader, the one who could problem-solve, he was the comic relief, the tea maker, the one who often needed the support, not the one offering it.

Jasper didn’t know what to do but he felt that maybe being positive would be the best start to the conversation, Monty always seemed to start by establishing something positive before dealing with the issue at hand. He took a seat opposite Mr Green in the living area and there was a moment of silence before he spoke.

“What are we going to do about getting Mum out?” Jasper asked, assuming that there would of course already be plans in motion to right this wrong.

“Nothing.” His surrogate dad answered quietly.

Jasper’s head shot up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. “What! Why not?”

“Because there’s nothing we can do; she’s guilty.”


	4. Chapter 4

Monty was starting to get bored.

He thought that it was a little odd because surely one shouldn’t be bored during what he was now starting to realise must have been a kidnap situation, despite fervently wishing he wasn’t correct.

The routine had not deviated in days; except for the addition of an hour or so of shower, toilet and walking in a dim room for exercise. He was cuffed to a strut in the shower and the door was locked (from the outside) during his daily ablutions and exercise.

If he was honest, on top of the boredom he was starting to fray a little around the edges and certainly lose track of time. The addition of cleanliness and exercise made him feel like this was a situation he was going to be in for the long hall and this didn’t fill him with much hope. He must be in the Skybox, though why he was in solitary he didn’t know. 

His parents must be going spare.

When he was released on one of the days he starting asking questions, but the man to whom he addressed them (who Monty didn’t recognise, which was odd) was unresponsive.

A few days later, he ran at the guard who came to collect him after the toilet and he was rewarded with a punch across the face. Although he didn’t want to be harmed, he felt like his exploits were beginning to bear fruit. After a few more failed escape attempts and a horrible few days where they didn’t feed him at all (he assumed as a punishment) the guard changed. Seizing the chance to try to wear down another person, he started chatting every time the person was in the room and didn’t stop until finally the guard seemed to snap.

“Would you just SHUT UP!” Shouted the guard.

“I’ll shut up if you tell me what the hell is going on!” Monty shouted back.

The guard looked at him and visibly balked at the idea and Monty knew that he had scored a valuable point because no-one up until this point had spoken a word to him.

When the guard said no-more, Monty once again started up, prattling about anything and everything from the state of the food on the Ark to the economic status of now dead civilisations on the ground.

~~~

“Kid, I’m warning you...” 

~~~

“This is not up for discussion…”

~~~

“Do you like being beaten up?”

~~~

“This isn’t a GAME you know!”

~~~

Monty was roughed up a few more times but it was worth it because finally he was rewarded with an exasperated sigh.

“Look, we’re looking after you but I can’t promise anything if you keep winding us up.”

“Look,” Monty started, copying the tone of voice of the guard, “I’ll be a model prisoner if I just know why. Why am I in Skybox solitary?” 

He was still half-hoping that he was wrong, that he wasn’t in a huge amount of danger and the beatings he had been receiving were just because of a rogue guard.

The guard looked confused for a second but said “You’re not in the Skybox actually because you’re not a criminal.”

Monty tried one last time for a bought of sanity. “But, I was arrested. The guard…”

“…was a fake.” The ‘guard’ completed.

And there it was, what he had been dreading.

Slowly, quietly and with only a vague tremor, he probed further. “So what is this? Why am I here?” He paused for a brief moment. “And where’s Jasper?”

“This is a payment plan and the debt isn’t settled. Mr Jordan is not currently part of the proceedings.”

Monty visibly relaxed and let out a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding, looking at the floor. The guard noted his relaxed posture and filed that information away for future reference.

It was cliché, but he had to know. “So what are you going to do with me?”

“Nothing, as long as you behave.”

There was quite a long pause this time.

“Can I ask what the debt is?” Monty finally asked.

The guard had obviously had enough and he disappeared, once more plunging Monty into darkness.

~~~

He had a lot to think about. 

What had he not paid for that he was atoning for now? What did it mean that the debt hadn’t been paid? How long was the payment plan going to be anyway? Why hadn’t anyone found him yet? He had to have been missing for at least a week now. There were a finite number of places on the Ark he could be so why hadn’t he been found? Where was the search party? What the heck was happening?

Just before a fitful sleep took him, he had a thought which sunk deep into his stomach and seemed to lodge there - making him feel nauseous. The word ‘currently’ had been applied to Jasper’s involvement.

Monty kind of lost it after that. It wasn’t calm and it wasn’t pretty. By the end of his episode he was almost clawing at his face to stop the tears which were still falling.

It didn’t matter what happened to him – although he’d be pleased if he could go home now actually – but Jasper needed to stay out of it. The fact that he wasn’t involved was like a soothing balm but the implication that he may be involved in the future was a red hot poker to his brain which he couldn’t ignore.

"Please, Jasper." Monty thought. "Don’t come looking for me. Stay safe. _Don’t_ do anything stupid."


	5. Chapter 5

“Time to do something stupid.” Jasper thought. 

It had become a phrase that Monty and him used whenever they tried a new drug; whenever they attempted a slightly off the cuff chemistry experiment; whenever they did something which could potentially mean they were hurt; or arrested; or just made embarrassed by a situation. He couldn’t even remember now why they’d started saying it but it was as much a part of him as it was a part of Monty.

They’d also said it one year when they were about 8 and had been roped into being part of the Unity Day pageant. Monty’s parents had signed him up and he had flat refused unless Jasper had done it as well. Jasper refused to do it when his parents asked him but relented when Monty quietly said he was scared and wanted him by his side. 

There was no way that he wasn’t going to help Monty now, whatever the cost. It was definitely a ‘time to do something’ stupid moment.

He did make one last attempt at speaking with the guard. He wasn't enthused with the response and he thought he may have got somewhere seeing as it had been a week but they still just thought he was staging an elaborate ruse to keep Monty safe. Would that THAT were true. He was actually almost arrested then and there when he saw red and lunged for one of the guards. Thankfully he tripped over his feet and they laughed at him; assumed he'd fallen over; and shooed him out of the door.

There was no leniency on the Ark for reasons regarding crimes. 

If you did something illegal then you were floated or Skyboxed depending on your age. There was no 'but i did it for this reason' and 'oh well that was a good idea never mind then'. If he did this, if he tried to do his own investigation as to where Monty was and he did anything in the course of it which wasn’t legal it only ended one way. At least he had some time.

Turned out Jasper was okay with that. He felt lost without Monty. Like some part of him was missing, like he couldn’t think straight because half of his brain was missing and if the only thing he could do was ask questions and look when other people didn’t want to; then that was the very least he could do.

Monty had saved his life by being his friend when no-one wanted to spend time with the gawky, clumsy, awkward child that he was. Monty had seen through all of that and just plonked himself next to Jasper one day when he was sitting on his own during a break from classes. 

They didn’t speak for a while, Jasper because he was terrified and Monty, he later told him, because he wasn’t sure what to say to this tall, bright kid who always knew the answers at school but was forever alone.

Monty finally just offered him a very small tin car which his dad had given him; and asked if he wanted to come round after school and play racing.

Jasper grinned and dropped the car when it was handed to him, which made him blush and made Monty giggle and then that was that. They were inseparable.

The only time that Jasper could remember being away from Monty for this length of time in the last decade was when he’d had the measles and wasn’t allowed to see anyone. 

Even then, Monty had passed him notes underneath the door of his cabin and his mum had sighed and become a messenger. 

As soon as he was no longer contagious (but still itchy) Monty was allowed in and the first thing he did was run towards his bed and gave him that same tin car. Jasper dropped it and they both laughed so much they started crying and holding their sides. When Jasper’s mum came in later that afternoon, she found Monty asleep on the bed next to Jasper, the car in between them.

This enforced separation and the not knowing what was going on was killing him.

~~~

Jasper had spoken with his other father for hours and he still didn’t think he understood what was going on. 

It seemed that every time he spoke one thing, he contradicted himself a sentence later and Jasper was starting to get a headache by the end of it. One thing was certain though, Monty’s dad was lying about something, holding something back and it had something to do with his wife.

Jasper had point blank refused to be excluded from her execution.

Once it had become apparent that nothing was going to be done to fight the conviction. Once Jasper had finally calmed down enough to listen to his other dads explanation of what had happened (which didn’t quite add up but did categorically show that she really _had_ stolen some samples from her work station) he finally came to terms with the fact that by the end of the day he would only have three parents left and that thought left him cold.

Realistically he knew that of course his parents would die before him but he was expecting them to die much later on, in their beds, potentially with him and Monty next to them; not forced into an airlock at gunpoint and sucked into the harsh vacuum of space to die horribly - forever floating in the inky blackness of space.

The guard had tried to stop Jasper attending because he ‘wasn’t family’ and the look he’d given them was enough to cause the guard to turn to Monty’s dad instead and try to explain the situation.

Monty’s dad, having already had this argument with Jasper, explained that it was okay. He reminded the guard that his son wasn’t here to see his mother off and that the next best thing was for Jasper to be there, as he was ‘like a son’ anyway.

Jasper’s eyes filled with tears at that but he blinked them away, trying to be strong.

When Monty’s mum was led to the airlock, her husband hugged her for a long time and she whispered something in his ear which Jasper didn’t hear. He did hear the response though, “I will, I won’t let that happen.”

That did nothing to stop the confusion that was still swirling around inside Jasper about what was going on.

He walked forward to say goodbye to his second mum and she shook her head. “I don’t want you to remember me like this Jasper.”

“If you think I’d be anywhere else right now Mum, you don’t know me very well.” Jasper said, his voice wavering.

The guard then moved to open the inner airlock door and gestured for her to enter.

“Jasper.” She said, just before the airlock closed. “Look after Monty.”

Any hope of him continuing to question her was lost as the door closed, making a sound proof coffin.

Jasper watched in horror as she flew backwards out of the airlock. He stood and stared at the airlock for some time after she had gone. After all the guards had left, after his surrogate dad had left (attempting to take Jasper with him, but failing), he carried on staring at that point, wondering whether she knew what he planned to do. Wondering whether her mother’s intuition knew that Jasper wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

He’d already promised himself that he’d go looking for Monty. He’d already promised Monty that he would find him and now he promised his dead mother that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to him.

It really was time to do something stupid.


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn’t as if Monty didn’t know he was in trouble.

Being secured to the wall for most of the day; not being told much; as well as the guns and shock batons pointed at him on a regular basis were a great clue but it was impossible to be constantly concerned about his predicament.

Fear came in waves. He couldn’t maintain a constant state of anxiety, no-one could. At some point you pass out; or come to accept your lot; or once again scrabble for purchase on the cord surrounding your waist.

The cord had clanged once when he’d pulled it as hard as he could and he inferred that the cable had been fed through the wall and was secured on the other side, which basically brought his chances of escape down a few notches. He wasn’t sure how he’d missed it before. Obviously this was a highly organised operation because someone had to co-ordinate with whomever was in Monty’s room to be able to let him go at the right time.

The next time the cable was loosened, he tried to make a break for it, figuring he may as well give it a go. He shimmied his body down to the floor and wiggling out from under the wire and actually managed to get to standing. He earned himself a shock for that and it was like no pain he’d ever felt before. The fact that it had been the previously loquacious guard who had done so didn’t instil in him much hope for the future either.

~~~

Being in the dark and with his own thoughts for most of the time meant that Monty was unable to distinguish precisely how much time had passed but he thought that when the door opened it was too soon to be for any of his ‘normal’ times for his limited freedom.

The light was switched on, which was the first surprising thing. Prior to this, the door had been propped open, spilling a feeble light into the room, enough for both the guard and Monty to see by. He couldn’t get used to calling this guy anything but a guard. Sure, he wasn’t a real guard but he was guarding him so it was a good a name as any.

The stark light first made Monty’s eyes hurt, making them water involuntarily and causing him momentary blindness. He quickly wiped his face lest the guard think he had been crying.

The guard who had been looking after him walked into the room slowly and Monty realised straight away that something was wrong. The man walked carefully, as if movement pained him. When Monty’s vision cleared he saw that the man was bruised all over his face with a puffed eye which was almost completely closed.

Monty gasped, he couldn’t help it. The once cocky and mouthy guard had been reduced to this broken man in front of him. Monty didn’t like to think it may be because he’d spoken with him about what was going on; but he wasn’t sure why else the man would have suddenly stopped talking to him and now, some time later, was in this condition.

A second man walked into the small room, making it very crowded. The contrast was obvious. This man radiated confidence and menace; he stood a head taller than the stocky, raven-haired guard whom Monty had spoken with previously. The new man was probably even taller than Jasper, Monty thought idly, though it was hard to tell from his vantage point.

“Speak.” The new man commanded, his lithe body taught, seeming to throw all his power into that one word.

Monty flinched. He couldn’t help it. His body flooded with anxiety and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the new man. He looked familiar and Monty couldn’t quite put his finger on why that was. 

The new man was attractive. Monty wasn’t sure why that thought surprised him, just because someone’s character was reprehensible (and he had no doubt the reason the guard was injured was because of this new man) it didn’t meant that their shell should be - but he really hadn’t expected it.

“Aiden?” Monty said involuntarily, his scrutiny suddenly triggering a memory. He allowed a brief flicker of hope to spark, maybe he was about to be rescued after all.

“Shut up, Monty.” Aiden replied, his blonde ponytail swinging as his head moved quickly to answer him.

“Speak!” Aiden commanded again, shoving the guard forward a step so he was nearly touching Monty’s outstretched legs.

Monty realised that he didn’t know the guard’s name and he suddenly really wanted to. A cold feeling was sweeping his body again and he shuddered.

The unnamed guard coughed and then after another prod - this one just causing him to rock on the balls of his feet, not step forward - he started to speak in a flat voice. “I was wrong to speak to you without permission. It was not my place and you were not supposed to be party to that information.” He glanced quickly over his shoulder at the other man. He swallowed, obviously with some pain, looked Monty straight in the eye and said “And I’m sorry for what…”

He never got to finish his sentence.

Monty had been so focussed on the guard he hadn’t seen Aiden raise a weapon, didn’t have a chance to speak before a loud retort echoed around the small space.

The unnamed guard seemed to take an age to fall to the ground. He crumbled and his knees hit the ground first, then his left shoulder and finally his head. His eyes were still open, still staring at Monty, but the growing pool of blood around the head wound left no illusion as to whether he was still alive.

Monty tore his eyes away from the…’body’…his mind supplied, his thoughts pulling away from the word as soon as he’d thought it, and looked at Aiden with wide eyes.

Aiden had been a few years ahead of him and Jasper at school. The ‘cool older boy’ whom they’d aspired to be like. Part of the reason Jasper was so good at Chemistry was because Aiden had tutored him when he’d been stuck to begin with. After that Jasper’s chemistry skills went from strength to strength, seeming to feed on the praise that the older boy would heap on him.

“Aiden…what…?” Monty started completely unsure how to phrase the question. Any question, because what was he supposed to be saying in a situation like this?

“We’re not at school any more Mont.”

The nickname jarred Monty, he’d not heard it in a long time. Jasper had tried it out for a week or two, copying Aiden, but it sounded weird coming from him so they’d dropped it. Occasionally Monty would still call Jasper, ‘Jas’ but normally only when he was worried about something and was feeling vulnerable. 

He was surprised to hear the nickname now. The very fact that they were talking about school after Monty had just seen a boy he’d looked up to shoot someone in cold blood was surreal to say the least.

“But…what…?” Monty started again, still not sure what question he was trying to phrase.

Aiden crouched down in front of him and pulled on the cord around Monty’s middle, snapping it back into place.

“All you need to know, Mont” Aiden said (and this time, Monty thought the nickname sounded menacing). “is that _I’m_ in charge here and people who cross me end up like that.” Aiden gestured towards the no longer growing pool of blood which had stopped just short of Monty’s shoes.

“Cross you? What the hell happened to you?” Monty said, finally snapping out of his inability to form questions and speak properly. The spark of hope for a rescue died.

Aiden backhanded Monty so hard that his head bashed the wall behind him. He felt a little fuzzy and closed his eyes when the room swam.

“Which part of ‘all you need to know’ didn’t you get?” Aiden said, standing up.

Monty, who was still a bit shaken, allowed himself a moment to compose himself before re-opening his eyes.

Aiden smirked down at him and kicked his leg softly.

Monty was suddenly thrown into another memory of school and the way Aiden would sometimes ruffle his hair before saying goodbye. He wasn’t sure what it was about the soft leg kick that had caused this memory to emerge but he was sure that the action had been of the same sort. This made Aiden not just a murderer but a murderer who could switch from naughty to nice in seconds. The thought made Monty flush with fear, an unstable person was completely terrifying to deal with.

As the door closed, the light and body still there, Monty realised he had graduated from anxiety to downright fear. 

The throbbing in his head was beating at the same pace as his heart. 

Fast.


	7. Chapter 7

“Did Mum know that Monty was gone?” Jasper asked when he eventually plucked up enough courage to go back to his surrogate dad’s house.

“Of course she did.” Monty’s dad answered.

“Then why did she ask me to look after him?”

“Maybe she meant, you know, when he comes back.” Jasper’s second dad replied, avoiding eye contact.

“Do you know something about where he is, Dad?” 

“No. I don’t know where Monty is.” He replied deliberately.

Jasper appraised his second Dad over his tea cup but didn’t know what questions he should be asking. The older man was acting strangely as it was. It had been three days since his wife and been floated and he seemed to have returned to normal straight away. He had no days off work, was talking about her normally and without upset and generally just getting on with everything. 

Jasper knew that his second family loved each other; you could see it in all of their interactions so he couldn’t work out why bereavement wouldn’t have torn everything apart.

“I’ve been thinking actually, Jasper…”

“Hmm?” Jasper replied, coming back from his own thoughts.

“How would you feel about helping me out in the lab whilst you’re not at school? It wouldn’t be much, just helping with minor experiments and maybe making some deliveries around the place. Would really help me out and would keep you busy, eh?”

Jasper didn’t think he’d ever heard his second dad say so many words at one time and that in itself made him curious and a little confused.

“Sure. Why not? I’ll just check with Mum though. I mean my Mum, you know my other, Mum. Um.” Jasper replied, digging himself a hole.

Mr Green didn’t even blink at the mention of his wife, his mind clearly elsewhere. “Great, start tomorrow?”

Jasper left the Green’s cabin with thoughts swirling around in his head, this definitely wasn’t normal. Maybe his other dad was in shock.

~~~

Working for Mr Green was particularly dull. 

It would have been a brilliant job for the break if Monty had been there with him so they could amuse themselves between deliveries. The fact of the matter was, Jasper was a Chemist and always would be. Playing around with plants had never been his strong suit and he was consistently failing Earth Skills too.

One day, after about a week of dull deliveries, Jasper was rushing to get to the next place and he tripped and fell, completely crushing the box he had been carrying. Sitting up, Jasper examined the box and saw that it was possible for it to be squashed back together but it still looked like it had been opened. He had a quick look inside and just saw more cardboard boxes. Shaking the box he didn’t hear any tinkling glass so he assumed that nothing was broken.

When he arrived at the drop off point, the large man who he gave the parcel to took one look at it, looked back up at Jasper and gave him a scathing look.

“I fell!” Jasper said immediately, history telling him that the best thing for him to do was to explain his clumsiness right off the bat.

The man carried on appraising him and then just walked out of the room.

Jasper, not knowing what to do, just stood around awkwardly until the man came back in, without the box.

“Did you open it?” The man asked.

“No, no, I just squashed the box back together when the sides ripped.”

“You squashed the box back together?” The man said, this time with a hint of menace behind the words. “You squashed…you could have broken it!”

“I..I’m sorry.” Jasper stuttered. “I’ll be more careful in future.”

The man gave him one last look up and down. “What’s your name?”

“Jasper Jordan.”

“Well, Jasper Jordan, make sure you are.” And with that, the man walked away again and shut the door behind him.

Jasper sighed and walked back towards the Botany labs, hoping that Mr Green had no more deliveries that day. He wondered, not for the first time, what he was delivering. He didn’t think that plants were breakable.

~~~

When Jasper wasn’t delivering boxes or washing petri dishes in the lab, he was making a map of the Ark. There were maps of various parts already of course but he didn’t want anyone knowing what he was doing. Asking a lot of questions could mean things getting tricky. People paid for intelligence on the Ark, it was a form of currency which meant everything you said had to be carefully weighed beforehand. 

He started by walking the corridors he knew, checking that he really did remember them correctly. The paper for the map he kept under his mattress, lest anyone come looking for it. There were areas of the Ark he wasn’t permitted to go and they were marked on the map by a circle with a question mark inside it. He hoped he wouldn’t have to go into any of these restricted places for his search for Monty as that would raise his likelihood of getting arrested by quite a lot.

The fact that Monty wasn’t here to help him was something which upset him the most because it was a fact which snuck up on him without him realising it. He’d think ‘Monty would be good at drawing this section’ or ‘I wonder if Monty can still remember how many rooms are down this corridor’ and then he’d be reminded all over again that his best friend just wasn’t there.

Now he had a task, he was no longer teary about the situation. He was still desperately worried but crying wasn’t going to help Monty and he had a goal to achieve.

The other portion of his life which he needed to juggle was his parents. They were surprised he was out all the time but he quite honestly told them that he was spending a lot of time with Mr. Green and they sympathised with that.

~~~

Jasper walked round to Mr Green’s cabin before reporting for work, swinging by there so they could walk together. The botany labs were quite some way away and Jasper hadn’t quite grasped the route. The Ark corridors all looked the same and he didn’t want to get lost.

The door to the cabin was open, which was surprising but Jasper just stepped over the threshold and walked in.

“Dad?” He called, appraising the small cabin.

A noise came from the back of the cabin where the bedrooms were and Jasper walked in that direction, calling out again for his second father.

“Jasper. No, don’t come in here.” A quiet voice said.

Jasper couldn’t describe what made him ignore the request, only that Mr Green did not sound like himself. Manoeuvring round a table, he crossed the threshold to the main bedroom and stopped in his tracks.

Mr Green’s leg was at a funny angle and his face was quite severely bruised.

“Dad!” Jasper said, pulled out of his frozen state.

“Jasper, I said don’t…”

“Don’t be silly, you need help. We need to get you to medical!” Jasper busied himself trying to find something the older man might be able to lean on to help him support himself. Medical was a long way away and Jasper didn’t think he could sustain his weight the entire way.

“No, I’m fine, Jasper please.”

Jasper looked down at his other dad and smiled fondly. “No offence, Dad, but you must have taken quite a clunk to the head when you fell, you’re probably not the best judge of what is right for you right now.”

Mr Green laughed and then winced and grabbed his side. Jasper noticed and without preamble, pulled the man’s shirt up. His ribcage was one Purple bruise.

Jasper stepped back slightly, not quite believing what he was seeing.

Pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place. “Dad? You didn’t fall did you?”

“No, Jasper, I didn’t fall.”

“Has this got something to do with Mum?” Another piece connected.

The man on the floor sighed and pulled himself into a sitting position, wincing slightly, leaning against the bed.

“Look, Jasper, you…” the man started.

“…need to know exactly what is going on.” Jasper finished. “And I’m not leaving until you tell me.”

Monty’s dad sighed and nodded, realising that the time had come to bring Jasper in on everything.


	8. Chapter 8

Monty freaked out as soon as the door closed. He once again clawed at the cord round his waist, even though he knew it would do no good. There were no tears this time, just a desperate need to get the hell out of this place.

The chill that had permeated his body when Aiden was talking had returned, along with an inability to sit still. He could not stop shaking and it took him a while to realise he wasn’t cold, he was in shock. The stakes had suddenly been raised impossibly high and he still didn’t know what game he was playing. 

One thing was for sure though, he needed to get out of here. Right. Now.

~~~

The days blurred into one. They were taking far more care with him now. He was cuffed whenever he was moved, doors were locked like an air lock system to allow no possibility of escape and Monty was starting to lose hope that he’d make it out of this alive.

The new guard merely punched Monty if he started to talk and after a while the headache just wasn’t worth it, so he stopped speaking altogether.

Aiden left the body in the room for two days. Monty might be losing track of time but that piece of time he definitely knew about. Two long days when he barely slept, couldn’t eat and took only small sips of water. Two long days where the unblinking eyes of a dead DAMN body were staring at him.

At first, Monty couldn’t look away and afterwards he couldn’t bear to look. The guilt of the death weighed heavy on him – if only he hadn’t spoken to the man. If only he’d not been taken in the first place.

Monty and Jasper had assumed that they would be arrested one day and so the fact that he had was no surprise at all. Perhaps if he’d been paying more attention there would have seen some sort of sign that he would have seen: something that would have made him realise that he wasn’t being arrested at all; something which would have made him run, rather than blindly follow the directions of an actor.

When the body was removed, they didn’t clean up the blood. There was now a smear from the point of death to the door and the smell of copper in the air was too much. Monty found himself playing much the same game he had with the body. He would stare at the blood for hours at a time and then suddenly be unable to look at it at all.

~~~

The door to the room slammed open and Monty jerked awake, startled for a second as he couldn’t remember falling asleep and unsure where he was. When he realised, with a sinking feeling, all his memories crashing back in at once, his eyes went to the spot of blood on the floor before looking at the new addition to the room. He eyed Aiden warily but didn’t say anything.

“Good.” Aiden said, crouching down in front of Monty. “You’re learning.”

Monty merely looked back at him impassively, wondering whether attempting to strangle Aiden would be any use. Eventually he decided that he didn’t have the leverage and it therefore wasn’t worth the risk.

“You can talk during this conversation though.” Aiden said, sounding gracious.

Monty bit the inside of his cheek for two seconds before trusting himself to open his mouth.

Aiden raised an eyebrow at him. Monty had forgotten how well they knew this guy, how many secrets about them both he had and found the prospect of a friend turned enemy worse than just a random criminal. There were things in Aiden’s head which could end him.

“What conversation?” Monty said, sounding a lot braver than he felt.

“The conversation where I tell you parts of what is going on.” Aiden replied.

Monty raised one perfect eyebrow, mirroring Aiden.

Aiden laughed a full laugh and Monty saw the old Aiden seeping in around the edges. “Oh, I’ve missed you two!”

At that comment, Monty’s face darkened. “Jasper has nothing to do with this.”

“Not yet.” Aiden replied.

Monty lunged for him and came up short, momentarily forgetting that he was tied.

Aiden laughed again. “Still, Monty?”

Monty looked away and Aiden just laughed harder.

“What did you want to tell me?” Monty asked through gritted teeth once Aiden had stopped.

Aiden’s face turned stony; annoyed that Monty was moving the conversation on when he wasn’t ready. “I wanted to tell you,” he started slowly, “that you’re not getting out of here anytime soon.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Monty said sarcastically, having had enough of the fear running through him.

“Okay then!” Aiden said enthusiastically. “Your mum’s dead.”

Monty searched Aiden’s face for a hint of a lie. “What?”

“Your mother is dead. Floated.”

“WHAT?”

“Come on Monty, I know you’re bright. The lady who gave birth to you, who colloquially people call ‘mum’ is no longer breathing because she is dead.”

“How?” Monty said, the words sinking in.

“She got arrested and they floated her, as per the Ark charter.” Aiden replied, the ghost of a smirk on his face.

“My mother would never commit a crime!” Monty responded.

“She would for you.” 

Monty looked straight into Aiden’s eyes and saw the madness dancing there. “What did you do?”

“Me?” Aiden replied. “Nothing, I don’t control the guard. I’m just letting you know what’s been happening whilst you’ve been away. Your mother, Monty, was a criminal and the guard did what they always do with criminals.”

“You set her up!”

“You’d like to think that wouldn’t you? I’ve just said I had nothing to do with her arrest. She did that all on her own.”

Monty tried to escape his bonds again, tearing at the cord and hurting his fingertips trying to get at Aiden.

Aiden stood up then, walking back towards the door. Just before he closed it, he locked eyes with Monty. 

“And Mont? Don’t worry, I’ll look after Jasper for you.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my AWESOME Beta and cheerleader, JasandMonty. Couldn't do this without you! Xx

“There’s a doctor who lives two doors down, he won’t say anything. Go and get him?” Monty’s dad said, wincing.

Jasper actually had to think about it for a moment. Here was one of his parents clearly in pain and needing medical attention but the prospect of finding out the truth made him pause. What if he left and then he never found out what was going on?

Monty’s dad must have seen the look cross Jasper’s face and he smiled.

“I’ll be here when you get back. We _will_ talk.” He paused and took another laboured breath. “Just, I think my leg might be broken.”

Jasper looked down again then, shocked that he’d managed to forget the dire situation. He ran out of the room, knocking something off the shelf as he flew past.

After the doctor had left, splinting the leg and binding the ribs without asking questions, Jasper and his second dad sat in the living area of the cabin in silence.

“I feel like I should make some tea.” Jasper said after he could take the waiting no longer. He felt a sort of restless energy course through him. Now the time had come to learn the truth he was suddenly unsure as to whether or not he wanted to hear it.

“I could go for some tea.” The older man replied and smiled a little.

Jasper was humbled by that small gesture. Monty’s dad had always been incredibly kind to him. Here was someone who had been quite severely hurt and they were the one who was trying to support him! He felt his eyes fill with tears but was able to keep them at bay under guise of boiling the kettle.

Once the mugs were back in their hands and Jasper had settled down again, Monty’s dad looked straight at him and started talking.

“I suppose you realise by now that I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”

Jasper swallowed the sarcastic remark, biting the inside of his cheek. 

“Where’s Monty?” he said, realising that may not be the most important thing to ask but knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on anything if he didn’t.

Monty’s dad put his head in his hands, ran his fingers through his hair and looked back up. “THAT, I don’t know…”

Jasper opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

“…but I’m hoping you can find out.”

“What?” Jasper said, confused.

“Okay, let me start from the beginning…” his second dad said and then talked for about ten minutes straight.

When the speech was over, Jasper just looked up at his best friend’s dad, _his_ dad in shock. The events he was describing sounded like something out of a movie, not something that was happening in real life.

Thoughts swirled through his head and they were coming so thick and fast that he couldn’t grasp any of them, they were like wisps of smoke, intangible and hard to see.

“How did this happen?”

Monty’s dad shrugged; then winced, his ribs protesting the movement. 

“There’s always been a criminal element on the Ark, Jasper. In any society there’s going to be a black market and drugs are an easy way for people to escape the reality of being shut in a metal box for their whole lives.”

Jasper knew this, it was hardly a secret; and everyone knew someone who had gone a little mental from being cooped up their entire lives. There was a roaring trade in moonshine and drugs as well as a black market for everyday things like pencils which were incredibly hard to come by. Sometimes, Jasper privately thought it might have been better if the whole race had died during the bombs - ekeing out an existance amoung the stars, always hungry, always cold, was no life at all.

“Yes, but how did you and mum get involved?”

What Jasper really wanted to ask was: How did you manage to get yourselves in so much trouble? How was mum killed? Why didn’t you ask for help at the beginning?

“Isn’t it obvious? We work with plants and have access to many different chemicals; we’re the ideal people to sell to the underground.”

Jasper was surprised at the frank way that Mr Green was speaking.

“But you and mum aren’t drug dealers!” Jasper said loudly. He seemed to realise his volume as soon as he’d spoke and slapped his hand across his mouth.

“We are though, Jasper.” The older man said tiredly. “We may be unwilling ones, but we are.”

The pieces were starting to fit together but Jasper had to ask the question to make sure. 

“So, Monty…”

“…Was leverage.” Mr Green paused, taking a deep breath. “Originally it was enough that they threatened him. We were moving as much as we could out of the lab and into the network but then they wanted more. We couldn’t provide it but they wouldn’t listen.”

“So he really _wasn’t_ arrested?” Jasper finally asked, fear starting to course through him.

“I wasn’t sure to begin with, but it became clear very quickly that he wasn’t.”

“How?” Jasper asked, fully terrified and yet still curious. He needed to know everything if he was going to work out what to do about it.

“The orders started to get larger and when we started to complain they told us that they’d taken him. They gave us no choice after that: we provided as many drugs as they wanted; or they’d hurt him. Your mother…” and here his voice cracked and Jasper felt awful for ever thinking that his dad wasn’t hurting from his loss.

“Your mother, she wouldn’t have it. She started taking risks, cutting corners, she just wanted Monty back. We both did. But she was caught and…well…you know the rest.”

Jasper felt like he’d asked more questions in the last ten minutes than in his entire lifetime but he had to ask one more. He couldn't understand if they were doing all the mysterious 'they' wanted why his dad was looking like he was in front of him.

“Why were you hurt?” Jasper asked quietly.

Mr Green looked him in the eyes then. “It’s more difficult to keep up the supply when there’s only one of you doing so. They were threatening Monty and I tried to fight them.” He chuckled ruefully. “Guess I didn’t do too well.”

Jasper let the entire conversation sink in for a moment, still not quite believing he was having it. He tried to collect up all is thoughts, slow them down to a manageable level. He latched on to the one thought that was more important than the rest. Heaven help him but Monty was the most important and he felt awful for thinking that way, especially in light of his second parents injuries of late.

“What did you mean I could find out where Monty is? How?”

“Look Jasper, I can’t leave, I can’t stop. If the only thing keeping him safe is my job then I’m going to keep doing it…but I’m scared.”

A haunted look crossed Jasper’s face. “Of what?” 

“Of what they’d do to him if I’m arrested too.”

Jasper felt like he’d been doused in cold water. He couldn’t lose Monty. He could get through the loss of his mum, he could work through the injuries that his dad had sustained but only if his best friend was by his side. He couldn’t do this alone. It was too big.

He looked at his second father then, seeing the anguish there. He felt energised all of a sudden, wanting to problem solve the issue; make the whole thing okay; make it all a bad dream that they could all laugh about in the future.

“I’ll help, I can help! I could run errands or be an apprentice, pack bags…” As realisation dawned, his sudden energy dissipated. “…Wait, have I been delivering drugs?”

“I’m sorry, Jasper.” Monty’s dad said. 

Jasper believed him, he really _was_ sorry that he’d dragged Jasper into this. What he didn’t know was that Jasper would have gone into this with eyes wide open if he’d known earlier. He’d have done anything for Monty and now weeks had passed and who knew what Monty was going through? No, he would do whatever he could to fix this.

“But no, you can’t help like that; I don’t want to put you in danger. In all honesty I can’t promise you won’t be in danger if you do go to find him, but...”

“…but we need to get him out of there.” Jasper finished.

“You’re a kid. But God help me, you’re the only one I can trust on this ship to help me with this.”

Jasper smiled then, standing up to leave. “I’ve already made a map.”

Monty’s dad looked surprised but then smiled. “Of course you have.” 

He was never sure what Jasper and Monty’s relationship was and he didn't feel like it mattered anyway. Whatever it was or could be there was no denying that they loved each other very much; and the fact that Jasper had already started to work on where Monty was, warmed his heart.

“Be careful, Jasper, please. Don’t get caught, look after yourself.”

At the door, Jasper turned back to look at his broken father. “I will Dad, I’ll bring him home.”


	10. Chapter 10

Jasper went home.

His parents weren’t there and he was pleased, he didn’t feel much like talking to anyone. Slouching on the sofa, he digested the information slowly; trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened.

There was a heavy weight of guilt on him too: Guilt that he hadn’t pushed harder to get the guards to find Monty; Guilt that he hadn’t been with Monty when he’d been snatched; Guilt that he’d not noticed any of the Green family’s troubles.

After a while, the realisation that he only had one course of action dawned on him. He couldn’t go to the guard now, not when his other dad was breaking the law, hell _he’d_ even broken the law by being an unwitting courier. His dad was right; he was the only one who could find Monty.

He was suddenly incredibly tired, his whole body heavy and he realised he’d be no good to Monty like this. Pulling himself up, he staggered to his room and flopped onto his bed. He was asleep almost before he hit the pillow.

When he woke up, the cabin was silent and he knew it was the middle of the night before he even looked at the clock. Quietly, he set about packing a bag and he crept out into the living area, hoping not to wake his parents.

He’d never been a typical teenager, drug use aside. Never pushed his parents to have to ground him or use a curfew. He loved his parents and he didn’t want to hurt them but he also didn’t want to put them in a potentially difficult situation by leaving a note.

He was almost to the door when a voice spoke, quietly.

“Jasper.”

Jasper turned round quickly, nearly tripping over his own feet.

“Mum…” he started, unsure what to say, tears filling his eyes. This would have been so much easier if he could have slipped out.

She crossed the room, a blur through Jasper’s unshed tears and he felt her arms surround him. 

Jasper broke then, sobbing quietly into her shoulder - all of his fears coming to the fore at her touch. He couldn’t be strong when she was holding him, he never could. She was the best woman he’d ever known and he didn’t know how to impress upon her what he needed to do without incriminating everyone.

“Mum…” he tried again, pulling away. “Mum, I need to go.”

Maybe he didn’t give his mother enough credit though, because she seemed to understand, seemed to know how important it was, even without him saying anything. She seemed to know exactly why he was leaving.

“I can’t pretend that I want you to go, or even that I like the fact you feel you have to…but you’ve not been the same since he’s been missing. If searching for him brings my son back to me, _both_ my sons, then you should go.” 

Jasper, with perfect tears dropping down his cheeks and onto the floor, gave his mum one last hug and turned to go.

“Be careful, honey.”

Jasper didn’t trust himself to answer, just closed the door behind him and walked away.

~~~

The map Jasper had drawn proved invaluable over the next few hours. He searched every disused storage area in Agro station, but found nothing except dust. Not even any tracks in the dust to show that these rooms had been used recently. 

He was about to move on to a new area when he heard his name called from down the corridor. He was surprised that anyone was up this early and even more surprised that anyone knew who he was.

When he turned, his face lit up into a huge smile as he realised who had called him.

“Aiden! Oh my God, I haven’t seen you in ages! How are you? What have you been up to?”

Aiden smiled back, a twinkle in his eyes. “This and that; being an adult sucks.”

Jasper laughed at that. 

“Being a kid isn’t much better.” He replied, with a sadness to his tone.

Aiden put an arm round Jasper’s shoulder and Jasper lent into it, the familiarity making him feel better.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Aiden asked kindly.

“No.” Jasper moaned, desperately wanting someone to tell.

“Come on, I’ll get you some coffee, you look like you need it.”

“Gee, thanks!” Jasper replied putting a smile on his face.

Walking away, Aiden’s arm still around his shoulders, Jasper felt better, like he’d been given a brief reprieve from worrying.

“You know you can tell me anything.” Aiden whispered in Jasper’s ear before entering the mess.

Jasper shivered slightly, a reaction which did not go unnoticed by Aiden. His thoughts raced around and old crushes sprung to the fore. Jasper knew he liked girls; there had been some completely unattainable girls that he’d managed to make a fool out of himself in front of. But he also knew that there had been something about Aiden that made his stomach go funny whenever he saw him.

Aiden wasn’t classically handsome, or what Jasper thought of as handsome, but there was something about him. He had long blonde hair which he tied back to keep it away from his face and his nose was slightly crooked. When he looked at you though, those blue/grey eyed turned in your direction it was like you were caught in his stare and moving or sometimes even talking became difficult. Jasper remembered long days dreaming about him in between classes and the heady butterfly feeling he got when Aiden had offered to tutor him.

All of Chemistry seemed to make sense when Aiden spoke, the equations and formulas which previously eluded Jasper’s understanding were suddenly startlingly clear. Jasper started to get good marks, then great marks and before he knew it, he was top of the class and wanted to be a Chemist when he was an adult. When Jasper’s grades started improving, he worried that he and Aiden would stop spending time together, the tutoring no longer needed. What he hadn’t been expecting was the tutor sessions turning into friends hanging out together and the crush he thought he had turning into a full on problem.

Maybe he could trust Aiden with this secret. Aiden had been good friends with both of them and he’d helped them out with problems of both the social and scholarly variety. Jasper tried not to talk about any crushes he had when Aiden was around but eventually Aiden had managed to pry a “Yes, there’s someone I like” out of him. No amount of tickling would make him tell him who it was though. 

Eventually, once Aiden had got fed up with Jasper going on and on about a boy called Monty, he’d been invited to their gatherings too and the three of them had become inseparable. It was only now, in recent years, that Aiden had branched off. Jasper assumed that being what the Ark classed as an adult meant you were too busy to hang out with people who were two years your junior even if you had all been firm friends once.

Once Aiden had collected the coffee, served in tin cups which meant you couldn’t really drink it warm unless you wanted to burn your hands and your lips, Jasper started to relax.

He couldn’t do this on his own, this was too big and if there was anyone who could possibly understand it would be Aiden. He’d done some drugs with them back in the day, in fact it might have been his idea to start, Jasper couldn’t remember now. Jasper could explain what was going on but with minimal mention of other people being involved, he could spin a story which was plausible but without getting Mr Green in trouble. Aiden could help get Monty back and then they could all laugh about it later. 

“I don’t want to talk about this here.” Jasper said without preamble.

“You hadn’t even started talking about what ‘this’ is yet, Jas.”

At the mention of his nickname, Jasper flushed, suddenly acutely aware of how attractive Aiden still was and all the old feelings suddenly burst out. Now was certainly not the time to be thinking with his dick but unfortunately no-one had told his dick that. He was disgusted with himself that he was even thinking of Aiden when all of his energy should be on Monty but he could only retain a heightened level of anxiety for so long, something had to give.

“I…” Jasper started, trying to regulate his voice. Pitching lower, he finished. “There are too many people here.”

“Come back to my cabin, we can talk privately there.”

Jasper nodded, standing. He reached for his coffee and the warmth spread through his fingers as he grasped the cup; the almost-pain of the heat grounding him slightly. 

He followed Aiden back through the confusing twists and turns that was the Ark’s corridors; and let himself believe that everything might be okay after all.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my awesome beta, Jasandmonty. xx

Monty didn’t see anyone apart from the guard for several days. Aiden didn’t visit to gloat, mock or injure and Monty was pleased. If he never saw that man again it would be too soon.

He couldn’t believe that he had been so completely wrong about him. Monty prided himself on being a good judge of character but he seemed to have been totally off on this occasion.

When they had been at school, after Aiden had stopped tutoring Jasper and Monty had been ‘allowed’ to come to their little get-togethers; Aiden had seemed a likeable kid. He was older so immediately was perceived to be ‘cool’ and Monty could tell that Jasper hero-worshiped him. Apart from that causing a niggling jealousy to form in Monty, there was nothing there that caused him to think he was anything but what he presented.

Monty still wasn’t sure what was happening though. What debt was he paying off? How was Aiden involved? Was his mum really dead or was that just some sort of psychological torture? There was clearly something going on but Monty felt like he had only a few pieces of a puzzle and the picture wasn’t even something he could guess at. 

All he knew for certain was that Aiden was a dangerous character and that Jasper was safe for the moment. 

For a while, that was actually enough. Knowing that Jasper had nothing to do with this and was far away from the confusion and pain was a relief. Monty felt sick to his stomach that Aiden could be doing anything to hurt Jasper but he knew that Aiden would tell him if that were the case.

Aiden had tipped his hand slightly. Telling Monty that his mum was floated; intimating that he’d hurt Jasper in some way; he was obviously trying to unsettle him and that was a game that he could work with. He had to assume that anything he told Monty was a lie and was just a way to unsettle him, just a way to make his imprisonment worse.

Monty couldn’t deny that he was in trouble, his old friend had murdered someone in front of him of course, but that didn’t mean that anyone he knew was in trouble. It was sad that the guard had died; concerning that it has been Aiden who had murdered him; and worrying that he had apparently been kidnaped; but he was alive and relatively unhurt. Everything was going to be fine.

After a while, Monty started to get restless that Aiden hadn’t turned up, worried what that might mean. He thought he could talk Aiden round and everything would sort itself out; but that only worked if Aiden visited him. 

~~~

The door slammed open, banging against the wall and almost shutting again due to the force.

Several men in guard’s uniforms swarmed in and Monty was momentarily giddy with the prospect of being rescued. The guards however didn’t look at him, didn’t speak with him, just waited.

A radio clicked and Monty felt the cord go slack around his waist. Before he could have a chance to process this information, he felt a sharp scratch at his neck and the room swam sickeningly before his vision blacked out entirely.

~~~

Monty woke in a different room. 

This room was bigger, with actual furniture in it. There was a desk with a chair and a real bed in the corner. Mounted on the wall was a screen. It looked very similar to a lot of the single cabins that were allocated to those who did not have families. There were few of these, the Ark wanted people to reproduce (though not too much, the crime of having a second child was a capital one) to further the survival of the human race.

It took him a while to realise that although he had woken up on the floor, he was no longer tied. He stood slowly, half expecting a repercussion of some fashion for doing so. When nothing happened, he set about examining the new room.

The furniture was all bolted to the floor, he assumed so that he could not use it as some sort of weapon. The chair itself looked pretty flimsy so he wasn’t sure what damage he could have inflicted with it anyway; but the fact that Aiden had thought that through made him once again evaluate just how much trouble he was in.

The screen was fully attached to the wall too and although he tried to pry away every panel around the room over the next few hours none of them were loose and no wires protruded. The fact that the room had essentially been made ‘Monty proof’ chilled him to the bone. Not for the first time, he lamented the fact that he had been taken by someone who knew him. Aiden knew what his exact skillset was and knew just the sorts of things he would attempt to do in order to escape and they had all been cut off.

It was only much later that he thought to try the door, completely unsurprised when it turned out to be locked and the door panels disabled from this side. He was well and truly stuck until someone found him. He wondered where in the Ark he was, why he’d been moved and whether anyone was indeed looking for him.

He liked to think that Jasper would look for him - liked to daydream that Jasper was crawling through air-ducts and threatening people to learn his whereabouts. Monty knew that the reality was that Jasper, who was meek and quiet with everyone apart from him, had swallowed the knowledge that he had been arrested and was just waiting for Skybox visiting day.

The thought that Jasper didn’t know where he was, might not ever know what happened to him, might have to go through life on the Ark without him was a sobering one. Monty held no assumption that Jasper felt the same way about him as he did, but he knew that Jasper had difficulty making friends and was painfully shy sometimes. Monty didn’t think that Jasper would do very well on his own. There was no hubris in the thought, that Monty was the one keeping them together, just a painful sadness that they were a unit and one could not function without the other. 

Monty knew that if the tables had been reversed he would have assumed the same. When you hear someone has been arrested your immediate thought is not that the guard are wrong and that the person has been kidnapped instead. 

Monty also knew that he would have been a wreck without Jasper. He’d like to think that he’d be brave and look for Jasper but he knew he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t even realise that Jasper was missing until he signed in for visiting day and were told he wasn’t there.

Which basically meant that no-one was coming for him. He was here, in a room that he had no way of getting out of; still with no information as to why he was there in the first place; and with a lie out in the Ark that meant no-one was looking for him.

Monty wasn’t normally one for giving up and rolling over; but even he had to admit the situation was pretty bleak.

He curled up into a ball on the bed and pulled the covers over his head, blocking out some of the machine hum. 

Crying into the soft pillow, which seemed like another insult to injury, he fell into a fitful, nightmare-filled sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my awesome beta Jasandmonty, who taught me this week that it's okay to take a break and come back to a fic later if you're not feeling it right now. Xx

Jasper followed Aiden back towards his cabin with more of a spring in his step than he'd had in days. Having someone he could talk to about this frankly mental situation was a welcome relief. 

No-one knew how much Monty meant to Jasper more than Aiden did. He got the impression from his recent conversations with his parents that they knew that they were close and they certainly saw him as a second son; but they had no real idea how much their lives intertwined.

Jasper couldn't think of a single memory that didn't have Monty in it. Even his individual study sessions with Aiden were interspersed with Jasper talking to Monty about Aiden; Jasper talking to Aiden about Monty; Jasper telling Aiden how easy Monty would have found this stuff and lamenting his own poor chemistry skills; Jasper telling Monty about his newfound Chemistry skills and Monty being proud of him for it. 

He couldn't imagine a world without Monty in it.

~~~

When they got to Aiden's cabin, Jasper became nervous. He wasn't sure why particularly; perhaps because he'd never been alone with Aiden before. The study sessions had always been in the cabin that Aiden had previously shared with his parents and, for some reason, being alone with Aiden worried Jasper. It didn't help that Aiden had had his arm slung around his shoulder the entire time that they'd been walking and Jasper wasn't entirely sure but he thought Aiden may have been twiddling his hair at one point.

"Home sweet home!" Aiden said as he opened the door, having to take his arm away from Jasper to do so.

Jasper felt oddly bereft after the arm had been removed and had to mentally shake himself so as not to make something of it that it wasn't. He smiled wanly at the greeting and crossed the threshold after Aiden.

Aiden closed the door and locked it, turning back round to Jasper and gesturing for him to sit in the small room.

Jasper had never been in one of the cabins that were allocated to single people before. It was tiny. There was a small desk and chair as well as a single bed. On the opposite wall there was a small kitchenette which was similar to the ones in larger cabins, for making tea and the like. There was another door in the corner which Jasper assumed led to a bathroom but that was it. He started to head towards the desk but was pulled up short by Aiden's voice.

"Hey Jas, come and sit with me."

Jasper turned and saw that Aiden had sat on his own bed and was patting the space beside him. Jasper moved slowly and sat down next to Aiden, leaning his head back against the wall.

Aiden moved closer, putting his hand on Jasper's right shoulder and massaging some of the tension out of it.

Jasper let out an involuntary moan and moved away from the wall slightly which allowed Aiden to carefully turn him round and fully massage both shoulders and upper back.

"You're so tense, Jas." Aiden whispered into his ear.

Jasper shivered and Aiden smiled.

Aiden moved his hands lower and began to massage the small of Jasper‘s back, Jasper pliant beneath his hands. 

When Aiden finished, Jasper took a moment to realise that the pleasing sensation had stopped and then he turned round to face Aiden.

"That was…" Jasper started, unsure how to finish the sentence.

Aiden just smiled at him and Jasper noticed how they grey flecks in his eyes moved when he did so. He was about to do something pretty stupid when there was a knock at the door which startled them both. 

The spell was broken.

Aiden got up to see who was at the door, having a hurried, whispered conversation with whoever had interrupted him.

Jasper merely sat on the bed in a bit of a daze and turned his head from one side to the other, noticing that the crick that he'd had in his neck for the last few weeks was gone.

~~~

Aiden came back to the bed and lent back against the wall, looking rather small.

"You okay?" Jasper asked, worried for his friend.

"Yeah, just work." Aiden said tiredly, running his hand across his face. The worried look that Jasper gave him wasn't missed.

"Anything I can do?" Jasper asked and Aiden had to school his features to stop him breaking out into a smile.

"Work. Can't be helped." He paused, straightening up. "We're here to talk about you though."

"Not sure where to start." Jasper said, leaning his head back against the wall again and closing his eyes.

He opened them again when he felt Aiden pick one of his hands up in both of his.

"The beginning is always a good place." Aiden said quietly, rubbing small circles on the back of Jasper's hand.

Jasper used his free hand to run his fingers through his hair.

"Monty is missing." Jasper said.

"That doesn't sound like the beginning, Jas."

Once again, the nickname made Jasper feel special. It made him feel wanted and needed and not for the first time he wondered whether the attraction went both ways. Shortly after that thought though, he quashed it. Aiden would never go for someone like him. He was too tall; too gangly; too clumsy; too thick; too wet to be a partner for someone who was so put-together like Aiden was. Aiden was attractive and intelligent, no match for someone like him.

"It's not really." Jasper replied. "But I'm not really sure where the beginning is." He paused. "And in any case, that's the important bit."

The circles stopped on his hand for a brief moment and once again Jasper felt the flurry of hope in his stomach, the tell-tale crush butterflies taking flight once again.

"Okay." Aiden said kindly, "Let me know what's been happening then."

Jasper told him as much as he could. 

He actually ended up saying that it was Monty who had been sought after by the drug dealers; Monty who had been squeezed for more product; and Monty who had been taken as a result of his own lack of progress. He told Aiden about his second mum but made it sound like she'd been an unwitting accomplice. Made it seem that she'd been floated because the guard had assumed that she was the one stealing the drugs.

Jasper looked up once he'd finished, his hair falling into his eyes as he did so.

"Oh, Jas." Aiden said softly.

Jasper let out a shaky breath. "Yeah."

Aiden moved to sit sideways on the bed and pulled the hair out of Jasper's eyes. He tucked it behind Jasper’s ear, his hand lingering for a moment on his cheek.

"You've been getting up to quite a lot without me here, haven't you?"

Jasper let out another shaky breath, acutely aware of how close Aiden was to him now and the fact that Aiden was holding his hand, something which his brain hadn't fully grasped until that point. He dropped his eyes then.

"Jas."

Jasper looked up and saw that Aiden had somehow got even closer.

"We're going to sort this out, okay?"

Jasper just nodded, unsure if he would be able to speak even if he had known what to say.

"I mean it. We'll find Monty. You don't have to do this alone."

Aiden pulled him closer, manoeuvring their bodies so that they were in a sort of sideways hug. Jasper lent into Aiden's shoulder and felt safe for the first time in a long while. He was relieved that he'd made the right decision confiding in Aiden. 

Jasper smiled, this was all going to be okay.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As ever, my fantastic beta, Jasandmonty deserves all the love. Actually, could we give some to Monty this time round as well? :P

Every time Monty woke it took him a moment to remember what his situation was. This was made more difficult now that he was in nicer surroundings. The bed, which was as comfy as any other Ark bed, lulled him into a false sense of security. 

Monty realised that the only time he was happy at the moment was during the hazy few seconds when he was neither fully awake, nor fully asleep. In that bubble of comfort he felt safe and secure. Very suddenly though, all his thoughts slammed back in and that woke him up very fast.

He did his daily job of checking the entire room to see if there was anything he’d missed the last umpteen times he’d looked it over. Monty actually thought it was getting more depressing as time went on.

He’d still not seen anyone properly for days now. The guards didn’t even give him a chance to talk, two walked in with shock batons, herding him into a corner, one placed a tray and then all three left. Even when he made a sarcastic comment they didn’t even look at him. They didn’t try to hurt him either and the indifference was somehow worse. He wondered how long it would take him to go mad, to start thinking that he didn’t exist. If no-one was paying attention to your existence, at what point did you cease to be?

Monty paced a lot. Occasionally, he would break the monotony by seeing how slowly he could walk from one side of the room to the other. Then he would return to pacing, counting his steps, allowing the task to seep into his being until it was all he was paying attention to. He could pass hours like that.

Sometimes he wondered what time it was, what other people on the Ark were doing. He wondered how Jasper was, what his parents were doing but, mostly he wondered whether anyone had yet noticed he was gone. Surely someone somewhere should have a file that showed he had been arrested; surely someone in Prison Station should check that file; and surely when that didn’t add up they would realise that a 17-year-old was missing and that they should be looking for them?

When it became too much to bear, Monty would shout himself hoarse and then strain to hear any sounds which would suggest he had been heard. There was never any movement outside his cell unless it was before he was fed. He once again wondered where he could possibly be on the Ark that no-one could hear him scream.

He couldn’t even plot an escape when there was nothing in the room that could even tentatively be called a weapon. That was what caused him the most upset, that he couldn’t even fight back. He couldn’t even go down fighting if Aiden did intend to kill him. Damned if he was going to lie down and go without a fight though, if it came to that he’d try to gouge his damn eyes out.

~~~

Monty turned when the door opened, momentarily stopping his pacing. Two guards walked into the room and Monty didn’t even notice when he started backing up automatically.

When Aiden walked in, Monty had a sudden urge to lunge at the man but kept it in check. Three on One wasn’t even good odds if he _did_ have a weapon, let alone now.

Aiden inclined his head and the guards left, locking the door from the other side.

“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” Monty said, a switch inside him suddenly flipping.

“I can handle myself.” Aiden smirked.

Monty just rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest. “What do you want?”

Aiden staggered backwards. “You wound me, Sir!” He paused, all mocking leaving his voice. “I came for a chat.”

Monty looked at his wrist, where a watch would be if he wore one. “I think I can fit you in.”

Aiden crossed the room very quickly and backhanded Monty across the face. Monty went down onto the bed, head ringing. Before he could get up, or even work out what was happening, Aiden was there, moving his arms down and pinning them with his knees. 

Monty struggled but the older boy had the advantage in height, weight and leverage. Raining blows down onto Monty’s unprotected face, Aiden let the rage take him over, let his fists discipline this sarcastic sorry excuse for a human being in front of him. It was only belatedly that he remembered he needed the boy alive and he stopped, forcing himself to calm down.

Aiden pushed off the bed and walked to the other side of the room, sitting down on the desk chair.

Eventually, spitting blood, Monty sat up, swaying slightly. His right eye was closed and his face was a mass of bruises. He felt his lip and winced when a jolt of pain went up the side of his face. He didn’t think anything was broken but wouldn’t know until he could give himself a proper check over and he wasn’t going to do that in front of this psycho.

He must have passed out because the Aiden sitting across from him now, bouncing his leg on the other knee was miles away from the Aiden who was attempting to kill him a moment ago.

“Not so sarcastic now, are we?”

Monty gave Aiden what he hoped was a withering look, but said nothing. He knew that Aiden would get round to the point of his visit soon enough.

Aiden got up to pace and Monty had to stop a hysterical giggle which threatened to spill out. Maybe he _did_ have a head injury?

“I saw Jasper the other day.”

Monty had never felt less like laughing in his entire life. He felt like his entire body had been doused in water. The pain in his head was suddenly nothing. He knew his head came up quickly when Aiden said that and saw that it was noted but he couldn’t stop his reaction in time.

“I thought that would interest you.”

“Don’t…” Monty started, noticing that even talking was painful.

Aiden laughed. “Don’t? Don’t what?”

“Just, don’t.”

Continuing to laugh, Aiden carried on talking. “I don’t think you understand the situation here, Mont. You are not in a position to be making any demands.”

“Look, you’ve got me. You don’t need him.” Monty heard the pleading tone to his own voice but couldn’t change it.

Smiling, Aiden answered him. “I don’t _need_ him but he really is such fun to play with.”

Monty got up off the bed, too quickly as it turned out. He crashed straight back down again, the dizzy spell threatening to black him out entirely.

“Oh, look at you Monty. You’re a joke.”

Monty looked up again then, nausea in check.

“You’re trying to play the hero even when you’re clearly not the hero-type. You want to be brave and save Jasper. What do you think that would achieve? Do you think he’d finally notice you? Do you think he’d fall into your arms and suddenly _love_ you? ” He sneered. “You’re pathetic.”

“It doesn’t matter what the outcome is…”

“You see now I think it does. Right now, dearest Jasper is in my cabin, somewhere he’s been a lot recently.”

The shocked look on Monty’s face didn’t go unnoticed either. 

“What?” Monty said, completely confused. “Why?”

“Why is he there?”

Monty nodded, afraid of the answer.

“I invited him and he followed me home like a lost puppy.”

Monty saw red then. “Why is he there?” He asked again.

“He desperately needed someone to talk to. He’s so worried about you. I was a friendly ear, a friendly shoulder to cry on.”

Slowly, Monty got to his feet and walked towards Aiden, not entirely sure what he was going to do when he got there.

“What would you do to stop me hurting him?” Aiden asked conversationally.

Monty missed a step and nearly fell. Eyes searching Aiden’s for the hint of a lie. He’d thought that this was all a joke, that Aiden was just messing with him. What if he really did have Jasper? What if all of this bravado was _actually_ going to cause Jasper harm?

He stopped walking then, raising his eyes to lock with the older boy. “Anything.”

Aiden smiled and Monty shrank backwards slightly, feeling like prey.

“Good to know.” Aiden said as he stood and rapped on the door.

When it opened, he closed the door and locked it behind him without another word.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta, Jasandmonty, deserves all the kudos really. Thank you for chatting me through my 'Why am I writing this?' crisis over the last few days! Xx.

Jasper and Aiden searched for Monty for as many hours as they could every day, whenever Aiden’s schedule allowed for it. 

When Aiden was out, Jasper spent time mapping more areas of the Ark and crossing out areas that they had already searched. Every day, he got more worried as the area of the Ark that they had left got smaller and smaller. Eventually it would just be the areas that were restricted which needed to be searched and that would require much more planning and potentially far more danger.

Jasper had already decided that when it came to that point he would go on alone. Aiden had been amazing and so incredibly supportive but this wasn’t something he could ask the nineteen-year-old to do. If Jasper got caught he’d be locked up, potentially floated next year. If Aiden was caught he would be dead and Jasper couldn’t have that on his conscience. Aiden hadn't asked to be swept up in all of this and Jasper wouldn’t let him go too far.

Jasper couldn’t deny that spending the majority of his time with his old/new friend was actually rather amazing. They worked very well together. They knew each other’s mannerisms and way of speaking and sometimes communicated without words entirely. It was nothing like what Jasper had with Monty but it allowed him to feel less lonely nonetheless.

~~~

Jasper flung his notes down on the table, causing a small but rather impressive avalanche of erasable sheets of plastic.

“We’re never going to find him.”

Aiden got up from where he’d been sitting on the other side of the room, a completely different part of the map in his hands.

“Don’t say that, Jas.”

“Look at this! We’re in a bloody space station, how many places can he be?”

Aiden put a comforting hand on Jasper’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. We will.”

“What if…what if…” Jasper didn’t seem to be able to form the question. “What if they didn’t know how old he was?”

“What?” Aiden asked, frowning.

“What if they didn’t know he was seventeen? Aiden! They could have…what if the reason we haven’t….what if they’ve…” Jasper started to shake then.

“Jas, JAS!” 

Jasper moved his wide eyes to where they were fixed on his friend.

“Jas. Listen to me. Are you listening?”

Jasper nodded, keeping his eyes locked on Aiden’s.

“You can’t sneeze on this Ark without it being recorded.” He reached inside Jasper’s shirt and pulled on the chain which hung there. “These ID tags show who we are. The council is firm but they aren’t monsters. They would not float someone who didn’t deserve it; and they certainly wouldn’t float someone without checking who they were. Okay?”

Jasper carried on staring at Aiden.

“Okay?” Aiden repeated, both hands on Jasper’s shoulders now, grounding him with his touch.

Jasper nodded again, the tears pooling in his eyes no longer threatening to fall.

“Come here.” Aiden said, and pulled Jasper to standing.

Jasper wrapped his hands round Aiden’s back and hugged him for all he was worth, letting all of his pain and worry go into the embrace. He felt safe. There was nothing he couldn’t do with Aiden’s support.

~~~

The map portions were getting smaller and Jasper’s meltdowns were becoming closer together. Sometimes they were accompanied by crying; occasionally by shows of force; but always he was talked down by Aiden - Aiden who hadn’t left his side during this whole mess.

“What would I have done if you hadn’t found me in that corridor?” Jasper asked into Aiden’s shoulder during one of his after-breakdown hugs.

“You’d have been fine.” Aiden said quickly.

Jasper pulled away so that he could see Aiden but didn’t let go, speaking firmly. “No, I wouldn’t have been. I’d have been a mess. You’ve seen me. I’m a mess even though you _are_ here.”

“Jas…” Aiden said again, quieter this time.

Jasper looked up then, through his messy hair and directly into Aiden’s eyes. He could never get over the fact that Aiden’s eyes seemed to change colour with his mood. Now they were a very light blue, flecked with small hints of grey. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve a friend like Aiden but he was incredibly grateful.

One of the things he loved about Aiden was the fact that he was taller than him. Apart from his dad, there was no-one he knew who fit that description. Having to look up to see into Aiden’s eyes was quite the novelty and it gave him a jolt in his stomach whenever Aiden looked down at him as well.

Slowly, Jasper rocked onto his toes and boldly, before he could think too much about it, kissed the boy he’d had a crush on for over two years.

It was over almost before it began. 

Jasper was sinking back down when Aiden grabbed him roughly and pulled their bodies back together, placing a bruising kiss on Jasper’s lips.

Jasper gasped and with that invitation, Aiden pushed his tongue inside Jasper’s mouth, deepening the kiss. They stayed like that for an age, Jasper clinging to Aiden’s shirt like he was drowning, all thoughts pushed out of his mind.

When they finally broke apart, Jasper realised he was blushing. 

When he looked up at Aiden, whose lips were slightly swollen, his blush evaporated. He had been the one to do that, he was the one making Aiden look a little shell shocked and damn if that wasn’t one of the most awesome things that had ever happened to him.

“Well that was…” Aiden started.

“…amazing.” Jasper finished.

Aiden smiled at that and nodded.

“Should we get back to this?” Aiden said.

Jasper felt awful. The high of moments ago completely gone. His eyes fell to the floor and he fidgetted in place. 

How could he have forgotten for one second why he was in Aiden’s cabin in the first place? How could he have even thought that this sort of thing was important when Monty was missing and who knew in what state? Why was he letting his teenage hormones get in the way of what was really important? He was a monster.

“Don’t.” 

Jasper looked up. “What?”

“Don’t do that to yourself.”

“What?” He repeated, knowing full well what Aiden was going to say.

“Us starting something doesn’t mean you’re letting Monty down. We’ve been working hard on this and we’re doing all we can. Taking a few moments out of our day…” Here he moved closer to Jasper again, hooking his hand through his belt loop. “…so that we can…” He kissed Jasper softly. “…do this…” Another kiss. “…will not hurt anyone.”

Jasper barely heard anything after the beginning of the sentence and he certainly wasn’t able to think much after Aiden had started to kiss him so softly.

“We’re starting something?” He asked, checking he really had heard the older boy correctly.

“If you want to.” Aiden replied, looking a little worried.

Jasper burst into a huge grin and rocked up onto his toes again, kissing Aiden for a second time.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More props to Jasandmonty, my beautiful beta. xx

When Aiden left, Monty sunk back down onto the bed, gingerly feeling his face. It hurt, but he didn’t think anything was broken. His nose wasn’t at an odd angle and no parts of his face moved in a way that he wasn’t expecting so he didn’t think his jaw was broken either.

What hurt most though wasn’t physical. The thought that this same treatment may be happening to Jasper was almost too much to bear. Monty had meant what he said, even though it gave Aiden power. He would do anything if it meant keeping Jasper safe. The very idea that Aiden had been spending time with Jasper hurt Monty. There was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it and that somehow made it even worse. The idea that Aiden could be hurting Jasper at that precise moment made him feel sick. 

Jasper wasn’t made to be confined, wasn’t made to be alone. Whenever Jasper had been forced to be on his own he always came to Monty afterwards a little broken. Jasper had been given a detention once and no-one else was there. After the hour was over, Monty had had to hold Jasper for way over two hours to calm him down. He had a sort of nervous energy which meant he seemed a little goofy to everyone else; but Monty knew that he was incredibly insecure and felt that if he stood still people would actually notice him more. When he was alone, Jasper seemed to turn inwards and all sorts of thoughts which normally wouldn’t intrude; did. No, Monty could think of nothing worse than Jasper being stuck like he was and if there was the choice, he'd rather it was him.

Monty gave the room another once over, this time more frantic, he even tried to pull apart some of the ceiling, to no avail. Suddenly getting out of this room was no longer about getting him free, it was about saving Jasper and with that train of thought he was back to trying to break the door open with his bare hands.

He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but he realised over the course of the next day or so that he was just repeating ‘Jasper is fine’ over and over again in his head. Monty didn’t believe in special powers or witchcraft or any god but once he’d realised he was saying it he couldn’t stop. If the only thing that was keeping Jasper safe was his thinking about him then he wasn't going to stop. If he could just keep Jasper in his thoughts then nothing bad could possibly happen to him, nothing could go wrong.

~~~

Monty never woke of his own accord nowadays, there was always some alien sound or crazy ex-friend to do that for him. This time, it was a very slight variation in the machine hum which caused him to sit up on the bed. 

His face no longer felt on fire and he assumed that was because he was healing. He’d only looked in the mirror once, very shortly after Aiden had left and didn’t want to repeat it. He hadn’t seen whether the bruises were fading but he could now see out of two eyes so that was a plus.

The hum was coming from the screen on the wall, which Monty had assumed was broken - it had never showed any signs of life before. Just as Monty crossed the room to investigate, the screen switched on completely and a picture formed.

It took Monty a minute to realise what he was seeing and even when he thought he understood, he frowned because it didn’t make any sense.

The screen was showing what appeared to be security camera footage of a cabin very similar to the one he was in. This new cabin was obviously one that was properly lived in, the usual clutter of life strewn everywhere.

Monty was confused straight away because there weren’t normally cameras in the cabins. The Council may run a tight ship but the people would have revolted if they weren’t allowed to have privacy in their own homes. He couldn’t understand why someone would have mounted a camera in their cabin either unless they were concerned for their safety or their belongings. Crime was quite low on the Ark because of the ramifications of any wrongdoing for adults and belongings, whilst sentimental, were all pretty bland considering they couldn’t really make anything new. Added to which, anything that did go missing could be found easily if it was taken. Apparently they couldn’t find people that easily though.

When Jasper walked onto the screen, Monty’s confusion escalated. This wasn’t the Jordan’s cabin, he would know that place anywhere and yet Jasper was wandering around the place as if it were completely familiar. Whilst Monty watched, Jasper paced, looked at various pieces of plastic that had writing on it that Monty couldn’t read, and even made himself a cup of tea.

Where the hell was Jasper?

He didn’t look like he’d been captured, or if he had he was being kept in an odd way. No, Jasper would not be acting so calmly if he was there against his will, which begged the question, where was he?

Monty didn’t have to wait long to find that answer out. He watched the screen avidly, looking for any sign that Jasper was in pain or upset but didn’t find one. When Jasper turned to look at something off screen Monty wished for another angle or at the very least a keyboard that he could use to hack in to find one.

When Aiden joined Jasper, everything fell into place. The two of them had a conversation but Monty wasn’t privy to it. It seemed there was no audio on this feed and it wasn’t sharp enough for Monty to lip-read.

When Jasper moved to the kitchenette area, getting another cup from somewhere and presumably making Aiden a drink, Aiden looked directly into the camera and waved.

Monty had never felt so angry in his entire life. Jasper was safe in the sense that he was still alive, still uninjured but clearly in a lot of danger. The fact that Aiden had chosen to wire up his cabin with video purely to screw with his head made his blood boil. What the hell was this all about?

Unable to tear his eyes away from the screen, Monty watched for hours. He watched Jasper show Aiden plans; watched them work on something together; watched the way they were with each other. Jasper seemed completely at ease and Monty just wanted to scream at him to get out of there, run whilst he still could.

When Monty saw Aiden stand up and offer his hand to Jasper, he felt concerned but wasn’t entirely sure why. There was no menace in his actions but Monty still tensed nonetheless. What he saw though was the complete opposite of anything he had expected. 

When Jasper had stood up, Aiden cupped his hands around Jasper's face and kissed him full on the mouth. Turning him round, he then walked Jasper backwards until he came into contact with a wall. Lacing his fingers through the other boy’s, Aiden brought Jasper’s hands above his head and pinned them there with both of his hands as the kiss deepened. Monty could see Jasper squirming but his friend didn’t seem to be seriously trying to get away.

Monty stared open mouthed at the screen. When Aiden had said that Jasper was fun to play with he had no idea what he had meant. Now he saw that Aiden was even more dangerous than previously realised. He was using Jasper’s old crush to bring him close and Monty didn’t want to think about what would happen when Aiden grew tired of him, or worse still decided that Jasper had outlived his usefulness.

When Aiden brought Jasper’s wrists together and held them with just one hand, using the other to brush lightly across Jasper’s face, Monty looked away. 

If he’d had one wish in that moment, he’d have wished he’d never told Aiden about his crush on Jasper. If he hadn’t, Jasper wouldn’t now be being used as ammunition; and he may have been able to spare his friend the future heartache.

If Monty had had a second wish, he’d have wished Aiden dead.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beautiful cheerleader, Jasandmonty, who has been ill this week, still managed to beta this for me. Much love! xx

Jasper readily stood to be kissed by Aiden, enjoying the soft way that Aiden cupped his face and the equally soft kisses he was raining down on him. He was taken aback when Aiden walked him into a wall. This was a new experience and was as far away from the softness of a moment ago as could be.

Aiden clasped his hands with his long fingers, interlacing their fingers and bringing them closer together, pinning Jasper’s wrists to the wall at his sides. Jasper gave a little moan which allowed Aiden to deepen the kiss, an outcome both of them were more than happy with.

When Aiden used his 2 inch height advantage to move Jasper’s hands above his head, Jasper stopped being able to think properly. Any thoughts he had skittered away with every movement of Aiden’s tongue on his.

Jasper wasn’t sure how long they stood there like that; it could have been minutes or hours. He knew that Aiden was enjoying himself as he too was panting in between bruising kisses. Jasper lost it when Aiden started kissing his neck, his wrists still captured in a firm grip. He wanted to touch Aiden, to run his hands all over his body, to do something which would allow him to think for one minute. The constant attention Aiden was paying him and the fact he was restrained was driving him crazy and he knew it was showing.

As Jasper started to squirm, Aiden just pressed him into the wall harder and then he couldn’t think at all.

Aiden kept one of his hands above Jasper’s head, holding both of his wrists, and moved the other hand to roam across Jasper’s clothed body. The touch was maddening, soft yet sure and Jasper felt like everywhere that Aiden touched burnt. 

Aiden moved his hand to the button on Jasper’s trousers, rubbing him through his underwear. Jasper started to make incomprehensible noises and Aiden recaptured his mouth even as he drove him nearly insane with his ministrations.

When Aiden finally touched Jasper’s skin, sprung free with a deft flick of his wrist, Aiden swallowed the younger man’s babbling with another hard kiss and brought Jasper to completion.

Jasper’s thoughts eventually came back to the room and with them came the realisation that he was no longer being held. He slowly lowered his hands. His legs felt like jelly and his head was still spinning slightly.

Aiden had backed up and was just looking at him with an odd look on his face. Jasper suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious; and he buttoned his trousers back together quickly, ignoring the sticky sensation.

Jasper wasn’t sure what to say. He’d never gone this far with anyone before, there not being much time to experiment on the Ark, despite his teenage hormones wanting to on occasion. He wasn’t sure what the protocol was now, was he supposed to talk to Aiden? Do something similar? Jasper wasn’t sure he had the confidence to pin Aiden against a wall.

“You’re so beautiful.” Aiden said, seeming to snap out of his reverie and in turn snapping Jasper out of his own babbling thoughts.

Jasper felt himself blush and he laughed slightly. “What?”

Aiden moved forward and took Jasper’s hand, pulling him away from the safety of the wall and leading him to the bed. As soon as they’d sat down, Jasper moved to kiss Aiden but Aiden pulled back.

Jasper, a hurt look on his face, questioned the move.

“I’ve got to go to work, Jas.”

“But don’t you want me to…I could…Shouldn’t I be…” Jasper stammered.

Aiden stroked Jasper’s hand with the soft pad of his thumb.

“Later, _if_ you’re ready to.” Aiden said.

Jasper felt an immense wave of relief. He was nervous as anything about doing something wrong in reciprocation and at least the hours that Aiden was at work would give him time to think. He nodded in response and Aiden squeezed his hand.

“See you later.” Jasper said as Aiden reached the door.

“You can count on it!” Aiden replied as he left the cabin.

~~~

Once Jasper had cleaned himself up, he sat back down on the bed, looking at the plans.

He couldn’t keep his mind on searching though, his thoughts kept returning to the feeling of being pinned, the extreme need he’d felt to get away, to take his mind off the pleasure for one second. The way that Aiden had responded to him, not letting him have the space, sending him into the most intense orgasm he’d ever had.

Shaking his head slightly, as if that would dislodge the lust and subsequent guilt he felt rising, he moved to make a cup of tea. When he did, he saw the corner of a box wedged between the bed and the wall. Curious, Jasper went over to look at it and realised he recognised it. The box was either the one he’d dropped on the floor when running to deliver for Mr Green or one very similar. It seemed like a lifetime ago now. In any case, it had definitely come from the botany labs. Confused and investigating further, he saw that the box was empty.

Jasper was worried now. It was all very well them doing drugs when they were below the age of majority but Aiden could get in serious trouble taking this stuff now.

Tea forgotten and lust assuaged, Jasper went back to the map, able to concentrate now. Worry crept in around the edges a few times but he pushed it away, knowing he couldn’t do anything until Aiden came home and they could talk.

Finally, Jasper worked out a route which would take him through the last unchecked rooms of the Ark that did not require special clearance to get through. He hoped that Monty was in one of them because his job would get infinitely more difficult if he wasn’t.

Missing Monty was like a wound. It was ever present and unlike anything he had ever felt before. The fact he couldn’t share anything with him; couldn’t laugh about his day; couldn’t even tell him about this new Aiden development; hurt. The idea that the reason he couldn’t do all those things because Monty was trapped by unknown persons on the Ark filled him with dread. If they could attack Mr Green for supply problems, what were they doing to Monty? 

Selfishly, Jasper hoped Mr Green continued to feed the system. He knew that drugs were rampant on the Ark and he didn’t agree with some of the harder stuff but if feeding people’s habits kept Monty safe, Jasper would have injected them all personally.

“Where are you, Monty?” Jasper said to the empty cabin.

The room didn’t respond.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running out of ways to thank Jasandmonty for all the hardwork she's doing: betaing; and calming my neuroses about this fic.

Occasionally Monty would look at the screen, more to comfort himself that Jasper was still alive than anything else. There hadn't been another blatant show of Aiden's pull over Jasper since he'd looked away when the screen first came on. Now, Aiden seemed to leave for the majority of the day and Jasper poured over pieces of acetate. Once, Monty managed to make out architectural plans of the Ark and he realised, once he'd seen Jasper crossing parts of them out; that he was looking for him and hope flared in his chest.

The thought was simultaneously a blessing and a curse. He was flooded with excitement and happiness. Jasper was looking for him! Monty knew that when Jasper set his mind to a task he never stopped until it was done, he was tenacious like that. It sometimes took him a while to _start_ the task, he was the King of Procrastination, but he never failed to follow through. Despite all of that, Monty was sad because Jasper would obviously be thwarted by Aiden. Jasper had clearly filled Aiden on at least some of what was going on because sometimes they were both looking at the maps. It didn't matter how motivated Jasper was, unless he saw Aiden for what he was he didn't have a chance.

Monty ignored the odd kiss that he saw. It was difficult to see but he needed to stay focused, needed to work out a way to get Jasper out of this.

"Enjoying the show?"

Aiden's laconic voice was enough to make Monty flush with anger. He hadn’t even heard the door open, he was so deep in thought. He stood; somehow being on his feet helped, despite the quite staggering height difference.

“What are you doing to him?”

Aiden smiled slowly and Monty was reminded of a snake. “Nothing he didn’t ask for.”

“Pinning him to the wall didn’t give him much choice, did it?”

Aiden laughed then. “So you saw _that_ part of the show, did you? Didn’t realise you had a naughty voyeuristic streak in you! Well, he didn’t seem to have any trouble enjoying himself did he? I’d say that was a choice.”

Monty’s anger withered into confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Ah, so you didn’t watch the _whole_ show. What happened Mont, got too shy? Didn’t want to see how I could make Jasper come undone? Wishing you were the one causing him to make those noises? Those little yelps, those moans? Wishing you were the one holding him down, pressing his wrists so hard that tiny bruises formed?”

Monty’s eyes went impossibly wide and Aiden knew he was right, knew categorically that Monty hadn’t seen what happened after the wall-pinned kiss. That made everything that much more delicious.

“What’s the matter Mont? Nothing to say?”

Aiden sat down on the chair and was rewarded when Monty sat on the bed, seeming to sink into the mattress, as if his legs suddenly forgot how to keep him upright.

“I thought you weren’t going to hurt him.” Monty said quietly after a time.

“Firstly, I never said that and secondly, hurting him when he’s begging me for it is not _quite_ the same thing.”

Monty scowled at Aiden, never before wanting to throttle someone as much as he did his ex-friend.

“Oh Monty, you’re so cute when you scrunch your face up like that!”

“He’s looking for me.” Monty said, still in the same measured, quiet voice and ignoring Aiden’s attempt to rile him up further.

“Yes, he is.”

“He’ll find me. You don’t know how…”

“How driven he is?” Aiden interrupted. “I do. He stays up so late some nights I fall asleep before he gets into bed.”

The flash of hurt that crossed Monty’s face did not go unnoticed by Aiden.

“He’ll find me.” Monty repeated.

“He’ll look for you, sure; but I don’t think he’s going to find you. Every week that goes past without him finding you will be one more week when he loses a little more hope, one more week when he grows closer to me. After a while, looking for you will be sporadic and then it won’t be happening at all…and all the while your Dad will be working for me.”

“My Dad?”

“Oh, I forgot you don’t know.” Aiden gestured at the room. “All of this…you…you’re leverage. Leverage to force your Father to work for me.”

“How?”

“I thought you were clever, Monty! Haven’t you worked it out yet?”

Aiden left the question hanging in the air. It was a while before Monty answered and Aiden was just about to answer his own question when Monty opened his mouth to say just one word.

“Drugs.”

Aiden clapped slowly.

“Well done Mont, knew you could do it. Your dad works for me and the _reason_ he works so hard for me is because I have you. So you see, if you weren’t here, none of this would be happening. So, in a way, this whole thing is your fault.”

Monty set Aiden with a stare, his fists clenched at his side, scrunching up the bed sheets.

“There’s many things this situation is, but my fault is not one of them.”

Aiden did one of his characteristic exists, throwing a passing sentence over his shoulder as he left, locking the door behind him.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mont.”

~~~

Monty now had two people he needed to rescue and he was still trapped in a room with seemingly no exits. He redoubled his efforts to find anything at all that might help him get free. 

He still glanced up at the screen to check on Jasper, the screen not having turned itself off, but not as frequently. He told himself it was because he didn’t want to catch Aiden doing anything with Jasper; but deep down he knew it was because he didn’t want to catch Aiden doing anything with Jasper which Jasper appeared to be enjoying. It was petty and it was childish but he was jealous of Aiden. Jealous that Aiden could have something with Jasper that he himself had been trying to work out how to get for years. Annoyed that Jasper hadn’t noticed that Aiden was anything but what he presented himself to be. Worried that Jasper’s heart might be broken. 

He was also concerned that his parents might be in trouble. He felt guilty that his dad was being held to ransom over him. Added to which he was downright scared that his mother really might be dead; and that it wasn’t just a cruel trick of Aiden’s all those weeks ago. 

Overriding everything else though was a feeling of sorrow and loneliness. He had never had trouble working alone but that was always because he knew that if he’d needed to ask for help, it would have been there. This sort of working was truly that: there was no-one else but him, he was by himself..


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point I'm just throwing flowers across the Atlantic and hoping Jasandmonty gets them.

“Oh, thank GOD!”

Jasper nearly flattened Aiden as he walked through the door and Aiden reflexively hugged Jasper back, his long arms automatically surrounding the younger man.

“What? Jas, what happened?”

Jasper extracted himself from the embrace, shushing Aiden as he did so. He poked his head out of the door, looked both ways up and down the corridor and then closed the door. Grabbing Aiden’s hand he led him over to the small bed in the corner.

“What is it, you’re scaring me! Did you find Monty? What’s happening?”

“No, I didn’t find Monty.”

Aiden let out a breath which Jasper took to mean he was disappointed and he reassured him.

“Okay, so if it isn’t that, what’s got you so worked up?”

“I found this.” Jasper said, pulling the squashed box out from the side of the bed.

Aiden’s eyes flashed an emotion which Jasper couldn’t quite fathom but which he took to be guilt.

“Jas…”

Jasper’s voice was kind but firm. “No, I don’t want to hear it. Look this sort of thing was all very good when you were younger but not now. You could be _floated_ Aiden. Don’t you get that?”

“I’m…”

“Look, just promise you won’t buy any more of this stuff, that you won’t do this again?”

“Okay, I promise.”

“Good, now come here.”

Jasper pulled Aiden’s hand that was still grasped in his own and their lips crashed together.

~~~

“What do you think I’m paying you for?” Aiden shouted.

“Sir…”

“No! I’m not listening to your petty excuses. Your incompetence nearly cost me and I don’t take kindly to having to cover up someone else’s mistakes.”

“How was I to know…”

“That’s just it. You should have known. You should have told me about the interaction you had with Mr. Jordan. I need to know everything about this operation for it to run smoothly. Loose ends like this put the whole organisation in jeopardy.”

“He’s just a kid. He’s not going to…”

Aiden backhanded the man across the face, sending his subordinate reeling. Most of his staff were large and foreboding but not very intelligent. It worked for the most part but situations like these were fairly frequent. The only plus side to them was it helped to assert his leadership and keep everyone else in line, for a time. 

“This ‘kid’ is searching day in day out for his friend and I am putting _considerable_ time and energy into thwarting his attempts. Stuff like this upsets the delicate balance and makes me look like a fool. Do I look like a fool to you?”

“No?”

“Precisely.”

The gunshot echoed around the room and a few people jumped.

“Anyone else done anything they’d like to own up to before I inevitably find out anyway?”

The silence was deafening, everyone pinned down by Aiden’s hawk-like stare.

“Good. Meeting adjourned.”

Everyone started to move towards the door.

“Oh, and someone clean Taylor up. There’s maintenance in K Dock, you can jettison him there.”

Aiden walked out first, knowing that his orders would be followed without question. He mulled over what he was going to do about Jasper if he did turn out to be inquisitive. Jasper was a welcome distraction but ultimately expendable. 

If worst came to the worst he would always bring Jasper into the fold using Monty as leverage, it would probably work even better than the current arrangement. Those two were so co-dependent Jasper would do anything for Monty and that sort of loyalty was very easily exploited.

~~~

Jasper was trying very hard not to lose hope but it was starting to become incredibly difficult. The non-secure rooms were empty, devoid of any life at all and that meant that he had reached the point where he had to do this alone.

Being with Aiden was comforting and familiar but he had to let him go. He couldn’t ask him to do this. Hell, he’d just balled him out for illegal activities! At least if Jasper was caught he’d have a chance, albeit a small one.

He was ready to have the argument with Aiden as soon as he walked through the door from the errand he’d gone to run.

Aiden ran in, eyes wild and lent his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

Jasper was on his feet in moments, going to him, checking him for injuries.

“Aiden…what?”

Aiden stood up then, gesturing for Jasper to sit, which he did, confusion warring with worry across his face.

“I don’t think I was followed.”

“Followed? Aiden what’s going on?”

Aiden reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic card. It was rectangular in shape and curved at the corners.

“I stole this.”

Jasper reached for the card, turning it over and over in his hands. “What?”

“It’s a card encoded with the highest security level. It’ll get us anywhere on the Ark.”

“Me.” Jasper said firmly.

“What?”

“Me. It’ll get _me_ anywhere on the Ark. You’re not coming with me.”

“Of course I am! You can’t do this on your own!”

“No, Aiden. I’m seventeen. If I’m caught then I’ll get sent to the Skybox. If you’re caught, you’re…well you’re not sent there, are you?”

Aiden appraised Jasper then, seeing the fire in his eyes, the resolve. Playing with Jasper was a game but under different circumstances, he thought they could be a formidable team. It was all he could do not to jump on the younger man and initiate a repeat of their previous tryst. There was nothing to be gained from it this time though, so he resisted.

“We started this together Jas, I know the risks. Don’t you think I care about Monty too?”

Jasper leant forwards and took Aiden’s hand within his own.

“I know, of course you do. I just can’t bear the thought of you being hurt too.”

“You think Monty’s being hurt?” Aiden asked, searching Jasper’s face.

“Yeah? I mean I don’t know…but it doesn’t seem likely they’ve just kidnapped him and given him a jolly old time does it? Who knows what he’s going through? Sometimes I…sometimes I think…”

“What?” Aiden asked kindly, once again rubbing small circles with his thumb on the back of Jasper’s hand.

“Monty’s so brave, you know? He won’t stop fighting. He’ll know he got mixed up with the wrong people and he’ll want to fix it. Being that sort of person, having fight in you when you’re taken, he’ll have been hurt…and he still won’t stop fighting. ”

Jasper paused, swallowing around the lump that had formed in his throat. He chuckled ruefully and carried on speaking.

“I wouldn’t be any good in that situation. I’m not good alone, I’d have gone mad by now. Locked up, without seeing anyone, I couldn’t be brave. I’m not brave.”

“You’re not brave?” Aiden said, tilting Jasper’s chin up with his free hand so their eyes locked together. “You’re not brave? You were searching the Ark single handedly when I found you. You were ready to put up with anything to get him back, if that’s not bravery, I don’t know what it is.”

“It’s stupidity.” Jasper said harshly, looking away again.

“It’s stupidity if you don’t ask for help when you need it.”

Jasper looked up again then, seemingly to weigh Aiden’s words.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, you can help me. But if you get floated, I’ll kill you.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I mentioned how much I love my beta, Jasandmonty? Xx

Monty ran at Aiden the next time he entered his cell. He got a shock baton to the ribs and Aiden kicked his legs out from under him but he still felt like he’d done something. In retrospect, what he’d really done was poke an already tempestuous dragon but he just couldn’t sit there doing nothing any longer. He couldn’t wait whilst who knew what was happening to the only family he’d ever known.

Aiden tutted at Monty as he was standing over him. “You don’t learn, do you Mont?”

Monty sat up, giving him a slightly better vantage point. “What do you want this time Aiden?”

Aiden backed up slightly, offering his hand to Monty, who ignored it and stood of his own volition.

They settled once again in what had turned out to be their designated places in the small room. Aiden sitting on and leaning against the back of, the desk chair; and Monty perched on the side of the single bed.

“I wanted to come to tell you this is the last talk we’ll have.”

A chill went through Monty, though he stopped himself from outright shuddering, maybe he was going to die in this stark room after all. Monty must have given off some sort of tell though because Aiden grinned at him, clearly reading his mind. 

“Oh, I’m not killing you. At least not yet in any case, you’re still far too useful.”

“As leverage.” Monty said spitefully, the fact that his very existence was currently causing others pain was somehow too much to bear.

Aiden smiled again and nodded.

~~~

Jasper wasn’t sure what he was seeing to begin with. It was a small room, much the same as the one he was sitting in but with far fewer items inside it. He could see Aiden clearly, his face towards the camera and until he had managed to find the volume control he thought Aiden was just sitting in the sparse space. Everyone needed a bit of a break now and then and whilst Jasper didn’t know just _why_ Aiden would have access to another un-lived in cabin, it didn’t immediately ring any alarm bells.

When he heard Monty’s voice say ‘leverage’, he actually turned round, not realising to begin with why he could suddenly hear his best friend’s speech. He began to understand that the voice was coming from the screen that he had accidently turned on. A screen that he hadn’t even realised was working until he’d managed to unlock its secrets by a complex series of tripping; falling; scrabbling for purchase; and finally pressing six different buttons simultaneously on the remote.

It didn’t register immediately that Monty’s voice in that room, a room that Aiden clearly knew the location of, was something to be concerned about. It was only after he listened to the rest of the conversation that Jasper started to panic. His mother’s oft-used phrase: ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire’ banged around in his head, not allowing him to think of much else.

~~~

Monty wasn’t sure why he said it, he certainly didn’t want to give Aiden any more ideas but it just popped out of his mouth. “You could kill me and still leverage my dad, how could he know?”

Aiden gave him a look of such hatred Monty actually flinched.

“I gave him my word.”

Monty had thought Aiden was insane before but this sort of backwards logic was a clear indication that something was not quite right with the older man. He must have given Aiden a look mirroring at least some of that thinking because he saw the flash of anger cross Aiden’s face before he stood.

“You think my word isn’t worth anything?” Aiden said, looming over Monty.

“No…” Monty started to say. He was interrupted by Aiden’s hand reaching out to bunch in the front of his shirt.

Aiden pulled Monty onto the floor and rained blows down upon him with fists, even as Monty tried to fight back, his size and weight working against him. 

Monty felt his lip split and blood flowed freely from a wound just above his eyebrow. When Aiden stood and took to kicking him in the stomach, Monty thought something broke inside of him but he knew realistically that the human body could take an awful lot of punishment before causing a serious injury. At some point he stopped fighting back, stopped fighting to stand and just protected his head and chest as much as he could. 

When the blows finally stopped, he struggled into a sitting position, this time able to see out of both eyes - which was a bonus. He wondered how he'd managed to get to the point where only having _some_ injuries was something to be proud of. He looked over at Aiden, who was casually wiping his hands on his trousers, the blood smearing along the fabric.

Aiden knocked on the door, had a whispered conversation with someone outside and came back into the room.

“I wanted you to have something to remember me by.”

Monty didn’t say anything, waiting for Aiden to continue, knowing how this game worked now.

“Jasper’s starting to lose hope that he’ll find you. Give it another week and I don’t think he’ll even be bothering to look anymore.”

Monty didn’t want to believe that but he knew that over time people lost hope, no matter how motivated one may have been at the beginning.

“It doesn’t look like he’s losing hope.” Monty said, gesturing at the screen. It showed Jasper clearly deep in thought, sections of maps scattered in front of him.

Aiden smiled. “He _is_ my busy little bee. But no, we’re about to go into the more secure areas of the Ark to look for you and that will be incredibly difficult to do. I don’t think Jas can expect to keep up this level of hope for you when he’s getting absolutely no results.”

“You’re wrong.” Monty said firmly.

“We’ll see.” Aiden replied, knocking once more on the door and this time leaving when it opened.

~~~

Jasper watched the feed for a few minutes after Aiden had left the room, trying to glean from the screen whether Monty had been seriously hurt by Aiden’s attack. He was clearly in pain but he was moving, which was good. When a second man came into the room, Jasper tensed but he soon realised that the man had been sent to look after Monty. He saw him splint his wrist and wrap bandages around his chest, as well as look at the cuts on his face, Jasper wincing at the same time Monty did. 

Looking at Monty was such a relief despite the state he was in. He hadn’t realised until that moment that quite a large part of him had come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t going to see him again. Just the knowledge that his best friend was alive was enough to make him giddy and the sick feeling in his stomach that he had been hurt was partially assuaged.

Jasper didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there when he suddenly realised he didn’t know how to turn the screen off. He hadn’t even known how to turn it on and Aiden could be back at any moment.

He looked once again at the picture of his friend before simply mashing buttons on the remote until the screen went blank. He put his face in his hands then and let all of the emotion out, all of the emotion that had been welling up inside him throughout the conversation he had witnessed but which he hadn’t allowed to spring free lest he miss something.

When he heard the door open, he felt rather than saw Aiden appraise him and run over to his side.

“Jas, Jas! What’s wrong?”

Jasper locked his shoulders so that he didn’t flinch away from Aiden’s touch, even forcing himself to lean towards him as he would have done even a scant few hours ago. He cried until he was finished, his eyes raw from the onslaught, not knowing when he was going to get a chance to actually let all his feelings about this out again.

Aiden pulled him round so that he was facing him and cupped his hands around his face.

“Jas, talk to me. You’re scaring me.” 

Aiden sounded concerned and wasn’t _that_ just one of the most messed up things that had happened? Aiden had been comforting Jasper for weeks, helping him search the Ark and all this time… Jasper stopped breathing for a moment. Aiden had been helping him search for Monty, which meant all the places that Aiden had searched would have to be re-searched because of course if he was in on this then nowhere he’d looked and nothing he’d said could be taken as truth. Jasper didn’t even know which areas he’d searched and which areas Aiden had; it was all a blur of urgency. He would have to start the whole thing again.

“JAS!” Aiden said, slapping him lightly across the cheek.

Jasper looked up then, a flash of anger rushing through him.

“You were somewhere else, are you okay?”

Jasper had to do the best damn acting job he’d ever done. 

This wasn’t lying to his mum about how much his ankle hurt or fibbing to Mrs Green about how many cookies they’d eaten. This was lying to a guy who had been lying to him for weeks. Lying to a guy whose emotions could apparently turn in a split second. Lying to a guy who had got his second mother killed. Lying to a guy who had locked up his best friend and blackmailed his second father. This was lying to a guy like his life depended on it - because it did.

“I’m fine.” Jasper said, his breath hitching slightly.

“Really? Because this doesn’t look ‘fine’.” Aiden said, stroking Jasper’s cheek now and noticing the slight shake to his lover’s body.

“All just got on top of me there for a moment.” Jasper replied, bringing his own hand up to cup the one holding his cheek. He turned his head and kissed the palm of Aiden’s hand. 

“It’s going to be okay, Jas. Really.”

Jasper looked Aiden directly in the eyes then, with a resolve that he hadn’t known he had. “Yes, it is.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have I mentioned how much I love my beta, Jasandmonty?

Jasper wasn’t sure he could do this.

Trying to be someone else, trying to show you were happy when you weren’t, was too hard. He tried to show that nothing was wrong, but everything was wrong. He felt like his entire life had been turned upside down. Every time he thought he understood what was happening, something else occurred which proved, quite conclusively, that he didn’t.

He had a permanent pain between his shoulder blades from tensing his muscles. Aiden kept trying to massage it away, which just made it worse. Every time Aiden touched him he had to steel himself so as not to flinch. Every time Aiden looked in his eyes and told him he was beautiful he had to meet his gaze and attempt to project some love back. When Aiden tried to deepen a kiss and turn it into something else, Jasper had to push his mind elsewhere, remind himself that this was necessary. Nothing was more important than saving Monty and if that meant Jasper had to endure Aiden, in whichever form that took, then he would do so.

Every morning, after Aiden had left the small cabin, Jasper broke down - his perfect tears forming tracks down his face. Sometimes he wondered whether the tears were creating furrows down his cheeks, lines which would never leave him. An erosion of sorrow, like the many canyons on Earth which he used to think were beautiful. Now he knew them for what they were, knew how they felt. These canyons had been forcefully made, nothing more than a wound that wouldn’t heal, getting deeper as the years wore on under the unrelenting pressure of the water.

Jasper searched for Monty with abandon. Every fibre he had was attuned to his task and the slightest change of circumstance. He became acutely aware of everything going on around him and was even able to discern Aiden’s footsteps in the corridor before he arrived back in the cabin. The last skill was necessary. It gave him the precious few seconds needed to school his features into a smile.

Sometimes, if he’d had a particularly awful day, where the search had borne very little fruit, he’d run to Aiden and give him a hug. It served a dual purpose and threw misdirection. Aiden didn’t suspect anything of Jasper’s deception and it also allowed Jasper to be held. If he closed his eyes and didn’t breathe in Aiden’s scent he could believe, if only for a moment, that he was being held by someone who really cared.

~~~

When Aiden walked through the door about a week after Jasper had discovered his secret, Jasper merely looked up, his features dark. It was exhausting trying to be happy and it wasn’t as if Aiden hadn’t seen him have a meltdown before. It could be very ‘in character’.

Aiden walked across the small room, sitting down next to Jasper and reaching for his hand. Jasper let him, though he did not return the grip. His long fingers were lying limp in Aiden’s very similar hands.

“I’ve got good news!” Aiden said quietly, searching Jasper’s face.

Jasper looked round, trying to make his face light up. Like it should light up if there was good news, but he didn’t quite manage it. Tears pooled in his eyes and when he blinked them back they fell, following the familiar route down his face.

Aiden pulled Jasper into a hug and Jasper clung on, wrenching sobs being drawn out of him against his will, Aiden rubbing soothing circles into this back.

When Jasper had stilled, his body exhausted and his eyes puffy, Aiden extricated himself from the hug and held Jasper at arms-length; his strong hands grasping the tops of Jasper’s arms and his eyes searching Jasper’s for any sign of continued turmoil.

“I said I had good news Jas, what was that in aid of?” 

Jasper shrugged, his bony shoulders rising and falling quickly.

Aiden let go of Jasper’s arms but remained in contact, running his hands down them and finally coming to rest with both of his hands in Jasper’s.

Jasper supposed it was meant to be supportive but it felt possessive. He felt trapped and it took considerable effort for him not to wrench himself free of Aiden’s grip. He slapped a smile on his face and released one hand to wipe his eyes, a small chuckle escaping. He hoped it came across as embarrassed and concerned and not as a put on act.

“Come on, you can talk to me, you can tell me anything, you _know_ that.”

Jasper laughed again, his right hand still caught in Aiden’s grip.

“I know,” he replied quietly. “I know…look there’s nothing to tell really. Good news is just in short supply I guess and I’m tired and worried and…”

“…you’re losing hope.” Aiden finished for him.

Jasper heard Aiden say to Monty that Jasper would lose hope. Heard the glee in which Aiden spoke to Monty whilst watching him squirm. He saw Aiden raining blows down on his best friend, saw the ease in which Aiden lied to both of them.

“I’m _not_ losing hope.” Jasper said curtly. He wasn’t giving up on Monty and he wanted Aiden to know it, even if it was a risky move.

“So why were you crying?” Aiden’s voice was clipped, flowing with an undercurrent of annoyance. 

It was a tone Jasper had never heard directed at him. He knew that he needed to pull this back. He took Aiden’s other hand, forcing himself to give it a squeeze.

Jasper put all of his worry into the next sentence, using his real feelings to help him sell the story. “I’m just worn out, Aiden. It’s tiring all of this subterfuge.”

And wasn’t THAT the truth.

“Okay, baby.” Aiden said, his voice softer.

Jasper knew that Aiden expected a kiss now, knew that he should learn forward but he still couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. He kept his hands holding Aiden’s though, hoping that would be enough.

“What’s the good news?”

“I think I’ve got a lead on where Monty might be.”

Jasper feigned surprise and joy, this time leaning forward to give Aiden a quick kiss. Aiden, taking control of the situation, pulled both of his hands out from Jasper’s and cupped the younger man’s face with his hands, thrusting his tongue roughly into Jasper’s mouth. Jasper gasped in surprise, which allowed Aiden the opening he desired.

Jasper just closed his eyes and thought of Monty. This was all for Monty, all of this would be worth it when he had Monty back, anything he did up until that point was merely a means to an end. He thought of the way Monty’s face scrunched up when he laughed; the way he would bite anything he was holding when he was thinking; the way he talked quite slowly but when he was excited he spoke faster even than Jasper did.

He felt Aiden pushing him backwards by his mouth and Jasper tried to catch himself, tried to put his hands behind him to stop his downward movement but Aiden was too quick. Jasper was lying flat before he knew what had happened, Aiden mostly on top of him, his weight not allowing Jasper to move away.

Aiden was kissing him frantically, nipping at his bottom lip occasionally and running his hands all across his body. Jasper found himself frantically wishing Aiden would pin him down again, thinking that that might be better. If he was pinned his hands wouldn’t have to roam over Aiden’s body, he wouldn’t have to choke back the bile that threatened every time he forced himself to touch him. But maybe that would be worse, maybe then he wouldn’t be able to think straight, might even like what Aiden was doing to him.

Eyes shut, thoughts entirely of Monty, Jasper let his mind wander. Whatever would happen, would happen, and he’d deal with it later.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasandmonty is amazing. That is all.

Jasper had lost count of the days Monty was missing. He didn’t even know what the date was, or even the day. All 24-hour periods had melded into one. It was an endless cycle: Search; Hide and Sleep.

Sometimes in the early morning he forgot what was going on entirely. He snuggled into the warm body next to him and then, when his senses kicked in, he jerked away from it. This movement brought him fully awake and kicked his brain into a high gear. He muttered excuses about bad dreams and forced himself to hug Aiden back if the older man was awake. If he wasn’t, Jasper sunk back down on ‘his’ side of the bed and tried very hard not to cry, his hands scrubbing furiously at his face if he thought that was even a remote possibility.

When Aiden left that morning, Jasper, feeling like he would explode if he didn’t do something more useful than bide his time and hope his re-search of the Ark found Monty, wrecked the cabin. If he didn’t find anything, he could tidy up and beg temporary insanity for any breakages. If he _did_ find something then it hardly mattered whether there was any mess as he wouldn’t be there to explain anyway. If Jasper found something he wouldn’t have to see Aiden again. They’d be at the guards and Aiden would be floated. The rage that was building in Jasper made him feel like even that death was too good for him.

~~~

The small cabin was in pieces around him: papers flung everywhere; the thin mattress turned over; and every cupboard ajar. In frustration, Jasper pressed all the buttons on the remote again, hoping for another glimpse at Monty and hoping that would give him an idea as to where he was, even if it hadn’t the umpteen other times he’d stared at the screen. He idly twiddled the access all areas key card in his other hand, hoping that finally the door he managed to open with it would be the right one.

Throwing the remote at the wall seemed cathartic but he was instantly sorry he did so, how was he going to check on Monty now? The remote shattered into several pieces, raining down a miniture fall of plastic. The final destruction felt justified, it being the last thing in the room not broken. He breathed heavily, surrounded by the carnage and realised that he himself was one of the broken items.

A small beep brought his gaze up to the screen, his too long hair falling into his eyes, until he pushed it back with a shaky hand. The screen was showing an initially empty corridor, though moments later two figures started to walk along it, moving closer to the camera with every step.

“So, I said to Hodgkins that he could shove his extra shifts. We’ve all got kids.”

The voice belonged to a short male, probably in his mid-30s, though it was difficult to tell from the camera feed. Whilst the audio was good and Jasper had no problem following the rest of the conversation, the picture quality was quite grainy. The man was waving his arms round as he emphasised his point and the second figure, a woman, was laughing and seemed to be hanging on his every word. It was so normal that Jasper couldn’t quite believe it was happening amidst the current turmoil of his life.

“And,” the man continued, “some of them aren’t in prison station.”

“You didn’t!” The woman squeaked, actually raising her hands to her mouth in shock.

“I did! I’m sick of him lording it over us when he’s the one with the biggest skeleton in his closet.”

“You’re so awful.”

“I know, great isn’t it?” He stopped by one of the doors which were liberally scattered along the corridor. “Anyway, this is me. Another glorious day in Hydro Station awaits.”

The woman chuckled, waved and continued walking off the screen, presumably to her own place of work.

Jasper stood still for a moment, taking in the information. It could mean nothing. Aiden may have been monitoring this corridor for another reason entirely, or Jasper could have somehow jacked into a feed which had nothing to do with what had been going on. It was somewhere to start looking that day though and just another place to cross off the list if nothing came of it.

~~~

Most of Hydro station wasn’t off limits and enough people had seen Jasper running around recently that no-one paid him much mind when he entered the labs, offices and storage rooms. When he started getting into living quarters Jasper knocked politely, gave some pretty elaborate excuses and entered cabins using the key only when there was no response (and no-one looking).

He was three doors away from the end of the corridor, the noise of machinery louder here and starting to give him a headache, when he knocked on another non-descript door. When no-one answered it, he opened the door and stopped dead when he did so. 

Monty was sitting at a familiar desk, his head in his hands. His shoulders were slumped and every line of his body looked tired, a fact Jasper knew were true even though he couldn’t see his friend’s face. Even his voice was resigned, none of the bubbly undercurrent which Jasper was used to.

“What now?”

“I…” 

Words had failed Jasper, the enormity of the situation and the simultaneous relief and terror that was flowing through him, making him temporarily losing the power of speech.

He coughed and tried again, making a joke. 

“I…I thought I’d get you out of here if you’re not busy.”

Monty was already turning, having recognised the voice from the single syllable. He launched himself at Jasper, nearly bowling him over. The hug was over in a second, Monty seeming to come back to himself then, holding Jasper at arms-length and scrutinising his face as if for injury.

“Are you okay?” He asked seriously.

“Am _I_ okay? Monty you’ve been missing for…”

“…months.” Monty finished, his eyes dropping to the floor.

Jasper clocked the change in demeanour and realised they were still in danger, mentally kicking himself for not moving sooner, for not thinking before he spoke. Anything to get that look off Monty’s still bruised face.

“We need to…”

“…get out of here.”

Jasper grinned, he couldn’t help it, this was right, it was exactly what his life should be like from now on. Their life should be them finishing each other’s sentences and laughing easily with it. Just as soon as they were able to get Aiden for what he’d been doing.

They closed the door to the room, the final click of the lock stalling them both for a moment. An eternity of hurt and sorrow in that one small noise. 

Monty gripped Jasper’s hand as they started out along the corridor. He wasn’t planning on letting go any time soon. Jasper felt safe in that small gesture for the first time in a long time and he tried to work out which one of them was comforting the other. In the next moment he realised it didn’t matter. They were together and nothing could wreck that.

~~~

They stopped again in a large room several stations away that Jasper had found on his first go round of looking for Monty.

They hadn’t spoken much, only to point out the direction they were heading, walking slowly in populated areas and flat out running in those with no-one around. Both of them wanted to get as much distance as possible from the room and from Aiden. They were acutely aware of the fact that they lived on a damn space station and there was only so much distance they could get until Aiden was caught and floated for his numerous crimes, but walking helped to calm some of their nerves nonetheless.

When they’d shut the door, Jasper started to wedge a stray piece of pipe into the handle but Monty just walked past him, tutting and carefully plucking the pipe from his fingers. Monty used the flat end to pry apart the door lock and did something complicated with the wires which made the door lock. Jasper watched the deft movement of Monty’s fingers and surprised himself with just how distracted they made him.

Jasper knew he was grinning goofily but he couldn’t help it; seeing Monty doing something so completely Monty was a sight for sore eyes and he was trying to etch it into his memory.

Monty turned back to the room, eyebrow arching when he saw the look on Jasper’s face. He didn’t think he’d ever want to be in a locked room ever again but somehow being there with Jasper was okay. Knowing that right now Jasper was safe, that they were both safe, was enough. A room was just a room.

“What? We don’t want anyone getting in here, do we?”

The comment was light-hearted but there was a definite undercurrent of worry to it. This time, it was Jasper who launched himself across the room, closing the gap between them and sweeping Monty up into a giant hug. Jasper knew he was clinging on for dear life and just allowing himself to wallow in the feel of Monty against him, the aroma of him which even months later still managed to smell partially of solder.

When he pulled away, he saw that Monty was crying but also smiling and Jasper knew that he must look in a similar state.

“It’s okay.” Jasper said, partially to assure himself.

“No, it’s not.” Monty replied not unkindly, taking Jasper’s hand again.

He lead them both further away from the door, sinking to the ground with a flurry of dust and pulling Jasper down with him, his hand still linked in his own. 

Jasper exhaled forcefully, looking everywhere in the room but at Monty. Now he’d found him, he was so desperately worried he was going to lose him again he could barely think straight.

“So, how’ve you been?”

“Jas…”

Monty felt Jasper’s whole body tense despite only being linked by his fingers. The startled look that Jasper gave Monty in response and the pulling away from their contact confused Monty. He was reaching for Jasper’s hand again, about to repeat what he said when Jasper raised a hand to stop him.

“Just…just call me Jasper. Okay?” 

Monty had never heard Jasper sound like that and he was both heartbroken and furious at the same time, realisation crashing in with that very small sentence. Sometimes, they forgot how well they knew each other and Monty could tell that Jasper hadn’t caught up yet, hadn’t realised what he’d unwittingly given away. Monty knew though, knew why Jasper wasn’t accepting the shortened form of his name. He knew there was only one reason, one _person_ that could have made Jasper eschew a previously supportive moniker and that realisation made Monty see red. 

Monty curled his now free hand into a fist and squeezed so hard he felt his too-long nails dig into his palm.

“Okay, Jasper. Okay.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: Jasandmonty is the greatest beta ever. That is all.

They slept fitfully over the next few days, getting rations from various canteens in the Ark, hoping Monty’s tags weren’t being tracked and moving frequently between empty rooms.

Monty marvelled at Jasper’s apparent encyclopaedic knowledge of the Ark and decided to ask him about it during one of their many stops. He thought they were back in Mecha station now, which was dangerous as they could bump into someone they knew but he also knew they should keep moving until they could come up with a plan.

They’d swung by both the Jordan’s and the Green’s leaving identical notes to them pushed under the door.

_I found him, but it’s not safe to come home yet. We’re okay and we love you._

They’d both decided that seeing their parents, was too risky, they had no idea who was being watched either by the guard proper or by Aiden. They didn’t want to give away any information but knew that their parents must be worrying about them.

They’d stopped again in another disused room, this one much smaller.

“Why are we packed in like tin cans when there are so many empty rooms on this stupid Ark?” Monty asked after the door locking formalities were over.

“Population control?” Jasper supplied. “Maybe they think that fewer people will try for extra kids if we all think we’re jammed in.”

They hadn’t been talking about the important things, the conversations that they both knew they’d have to have eventually but couldn’t quite bring themselves to. Every noise they heard made them jump and every echoed footstep behind them made them turn as one. They couldn’t continue like this but they weren’t going to stop running until they did eventually think things through.

“Jas, we’ve got to ta…” Monty was stunned into silence by the look Jasper gave him. Jasper had never looked at him like that before and Monty felt the murderous rage rise again.

Monty coughed; shook his head as if that would dislodge the sudden, blood-filled fantasy he was envisioning; and shifted slightly on the floor. 

“Jasper,” He said deliberately, looking up to check that was what had caused Jasper’s cool look. When Jasper didn’t continue his stare, Monty continued, “we’ve got to talk about what we’re going to do.”

Jasper did look up then, his face a mask of indecision and worry.

“We’re going to get him arrested and then we’re going to watch him float.”

“Jas…per!”

“What? He broke the law, he has to float, that’s the rules.” He responded petulantly.

Monty got very still then and spoke very quietly. “What about dad?”

“What?”

“What about Dad? He broke the law. Should we get him floated too?”

“No!” Jasper said vehemently, reaching for Monty’s hand again. They were holding hands a lot lately and it gave him a sense of reality, proved to himself that Monty really was here, that he really had rescued him.

“By that logic though, he’d need to.” Monty said gently.

“Of course I don’t want dad floated...but this is Aiden!”

“I know, I know.” Monty rubbed his free hand over his face. “How are we going to tell the guards about this without them arresting dad?”

They lapsed into silence after that, not knowing what the answer was.

~~~

“You were kidnapped!” Jasper exclaimed loudly some time later.

Monty started to laugh, proper laughter, which ended with him rolling around on the floor and Jasper having a small strop and saying “You knew what I meant!” over and over again until the laughter infected him too.

“I meant…” Jasper started when they’d both calmed down.

“I know what you meant, but it’s our word against Aiden’s isn’t it? As far as the Ark is concerned I got arrested and ran off before I could be incarcerated. You then similarly ran off and we’ve been living in the walls this whole time.”

“In the walls?” Jasper chuckled.

“You know what I mean.”

~~~

Monty started awake, a cry on his lips. Jasper was awake and reaching for him even before he’d had conscious thought to do so.

“Monty?”

“Nothing.”

“Monty…”

“Bad dreams, I guess.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Okay.”

Neither of them moved from their upright positions though and Jasper just waited his friend out, ready to comfort or joke depending on what was needed.

“I dream about him sometimes.” Monty said quietly.

“Aiden?”

“Yeah. He’s…most of the time it’s just strange images and ideas and it doesn’t make much sense but sometimes…”

Jasper waited, not breathing, aware that Monty just needed to get this out.

“Sometimes he’s hurting you Jas. Jasper. Sometimes, he’s hurting you and I can’t…I don’t know how to…”

Jasper made vague shushing noises and moved closer so he was able to pull Monty into a hug. They stayed like that for a while, Monty clinging on, not saying anything more, just revelling in the closeness and safety of Jasper’s arms.

~~~

There was a noise in the corridor and Monty stiffened. It wasn’t a close noise and he relaxed almost immediately afterwards but it didn’t go unnoticed.

“Uck, I hate this!” Monty said loudly. “Every time there’s a noise I’m expecting goons to come pouring through the door.”

“Goons?” Jasper asked, aiming for levity and letting a hint of friendly mocking enter in his voice.

“Believe me, he’s got goons.” Monty replied.

“Oh geez, Monty, sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“No, it’s okay.” Monty laughed a little. “It does sound a little ridiculous. I’ve felt like we’ve been in some sort of movie for the last few months anyway.”

~~~

Monty thought it was the middle of the night. It was certainly the middle of what their bodies thought was the night, having not looked out of a window for days. Monty turned over, propping his head up with his hand, his elbow leaning against the floor. 

He looked at Jasper, asleep in the dim light, looking serene as he slept - a far cry from the bouncy and nervous energy which he used to exude when he was awake. Monty moved a stray piece of messy hair from Jasper’s cheek, tucking it behind his ear. The movement caused Jasper to shift slightly in his sleep and caused Monty to blush profusely, not having been aware of what he’d done until after he’d done it.

“Jas?” He said quietly enough that if he hadn’t been awake he probably wouldn’t have heard him.

“Hmm?” Jasper responded, sleep making him more forgiving of the nickname which Monty had used accidentally.

“Can you just, um…”

“Come here.” Jasper said, pulling him closer towards him and wrapping an arm around his waist.

Monty fell back to sleep quickly after that.

When he awoke the next morning, he was mortified to find that Jasper’s arm was still around his waist. When he’d fantasised about waking up with Jasper this wasn’t exactly how he’d planned it.

He felt rather than saw Jasper wake up. It seemed like Jasper was relaxed and asleep and all of a sudden tense and alert. Monty was about to say something to ease his friend’s concern when Jasper relaxed of his own accord and hugged Monty to him tighter.

Monty couldn’t bear to extricate himself from the situation so he lay there, barely breathing, revelling in the feeling of being held.

~~~

Later, there was a thump outside the door and both Monty and Jasper jumped to their feet. This noise very clearly had come from the door to their room and they couldn’t ignore it. They’d been half expecting this and Monty was surprised to find he felt slightly relieved, he didn’t need to worry anymore because it was happening. Moving as one, they walked closer to the door, still keeping the distance between them small.

Jasper glanced across at Monty and saw the same resolve darken his eyes even as the door opened and Aiden walked in, a smile which didn’t reach his eyes plastered on his face.

“Hello boys! Miss me?”


	23. Chapter 23

It was over pretty quickly. 

Monty wondered how he had thought him and Jasper had any chance in the first place; as soon as they’d started to fight Aiden, a group of ‘guards’ had appeared and surrounded them in the small room, guns cocked in their direction. 

Jasper had launched himself at Aiden at the same time that Monty did, they’d actually managed to rain down a few blows before Aiden started fighting back, his gangly limbs seeming to be everywhere at once.

Jasper got knocked aside fairly quickly and he slammed into a wall, knocking his head and feeling a little dazed for a moment. When his vision focused, Monty was standing against a wall with his hands above his head, a guard pointing a very serious looking gun at him. Several more guards were milling around and though no gun was pointed at Jasper he could see it would have been foolish for him to move.

After that, they’d had their hands cuffed behind their backs, the cord biting into their wrists. Monty was reminded of the first time he’d been cuffed, all those weeks ago, that time with his hands near neck height. There was something about having your hands tied behind you that made you feel more vulnerable, more confined; your movement was limited but you were also thrust forward, making yourself a target.

Jasper was furious.

Mostly he was furious at Aiden, partially at himself and also a little bit at Monty (which he squashed down almost as soon as he had thought it). There were two of them, they should have been able to take out Aiden and get this whole nightmare over and done with. 

The rage that seemed to be emanating from him in waves made him struggle against his potential bonds, making it difficult for the goons to cuff him to the strut he was being forced against. A gun was shoved under his chin with a very clear indication that he should stop moving. He glared at the ‘guard’ holding the weapon and continued moving, hurting his shoulder in the process but not stopping nonetheless.

The sound of a gun cocking on the other side of the small room stilled Jasper and the guard was able to finish the job of securing him.

“You’ve just got to learn how to use the right leverage, Del.”

The guard who had had his gun under Jasper’s chin turned round to face Aiden.

“Sir?”

Aiden, whose hand gun was pointed at Monty’s temple, continued to talk.

“These two are little firecrackers. They’ll always fight to do the _right thing_. But…”

Aiden jammed the barrel of the gun into Monty’s head a little harder, causing him to tilt his head slightly. Monty was barely breathing and Jasper’s struggles renewed.

“Don’t!” Jasper bit out, the tone showing exactly how he was feeling despite the small word. 

He nearly wrenched his shoulder out of the socket trying to free himself, his sudden jerky movement as well as the situation at hand making him breathless.

Aiden stepped away, seeming to dance into the centre of room and then over to Jasper’s side of the room instead. The guards moved out of the way in sync, like the whole tableau had been choreographed. It would have been funny if it weren’t so terrifying.

This time, it was Jasper who felt the cool metal of the gun against his head. All fire he’d had in the last few seconds seemed to drain out of him in an instant. He stilled, his body running cold, unable to speak or even swallow. 

Monty on the other hand was scrabbling against his bonds, throwing himself from one side to the other as if that would loosen the metal-cored plastic holding him. A guttural animal noise emanated from his small frame, words seeming to have been lost in the heat of the moment.

Aiden once more did what seemed to be a twirling dance move, taking the gun with him but staying close to Jasper’s side.

“But,” Aiden repeated, as if he’d merely paused in mid-sentence, “…hurt one of them and the other falls in line. You have to know your adversaries; because when you know their weaknesses, you know how to win.”

Aiden made some sort of hand gesture and the guards left.

“I’m off to talk to your Dad, Mont. Let him know he’s got double the reason to heed me now. That he’s totally on his own, that all his family are gone.”

~~~

They didn’t talk for a moment after Aiden had left, locking the door behind him (not, both boys thought, that it mattered much whether the door was locked or not given their current predicament).

Jasper chuckled ruefully and that seemed to break the spell they were under, the spell that was causing them both to look at the door Aiden had walked from, as if they could learn it’s secrets. 

Monty wasn’t sure what they were both looking for. The only person who could realistically save them was his dad and he knew he wouldn’t do that if there was even a small chance he would endanger them both in doing so. No, they were most definitely on their own.

“Well that wasn’t how I expected that to go down.” Jasper said mock cheerfully.

“What did he mean?” Monty said quietly, ignoring Jasper’s comment and averting his eyes.

“What?”

“What did he mean, ‘all his family is gone’?”

Jasper looked at Monty, tears pooling in his eyes unbidden as he realised, on top of everything else, he was going to have to be the bearer of this bad news.

“He…I…” Jasper spluttered.

Monty just nodded and remained quiet, Jasper’s inability to form the words an answer in itself.

“My Mum’s really dead?” He said after a moment, his voice wavering.

Jasper nodded, tears falling now.

“He told me.” Monty said, his voice cracking slightly. “He told me, weeks ago. I just thought he was being cruel, just thought he was making stuff up to hurt me.”

Jasper had never wanted to hug Monty more. He struggled against his unyielding bonds again, managing to stretch his leg out so his toes just touched Monty’s thigh. Monty smiled a little at the gesture and they sat like that in silence for some time.

“What are we going to do?” Monty asked after a while.

Jasper looked up at that, his head swimming with thoughts. 

“I don’t know.” Jasper responded, knowing he should probably let Monty in on his plan, if only so he could pick holes in it and strengthen it as he always did. This was different though, this wasn’t a plan that could be picked at, either he could do it or he couldn’t and no amount of strategising was going to change that.

“I don’t know.” Jasper repeated and Monty just sighed, wishing Jasper would trust him. His plan must be _really_ bad if he wasn’t even up to sharing it with him. He’d just have to be ready to roll with whatever Jasper started. 

Just like always.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jasandmonty is amazing and should be awarded all the points.

They stayed like that, Monty shifting slightly so that Jasper wasn’t stretched too far, for several hours. The miniscule touch was enough to support each other, they didn’t speak, words seemingly empty and pointless in the face of such stacked odds.

Occasionally Monty would look up at Jasper, whose eyes had strayed to the ceiling at some point and hadn’t come down. Monty knew that Jasper was deep in thought and he also knew, from the look on his face, that nothing he could say would talk Jasper down from whatever decision he’d made. It was a resolve which said “I’m going to sing in the talent show.”; “I think I might be gay.”; and “Yeah, doing illegal drugs sounds like a great idea.” Monty knew that look, it was a look which he’d seen many times before and most of the time it made him smile; but today it just made him more anxious than he had been which he hadn’t thought was actually possible.

When the door opened again, this time just bringing Aiden, Monty knew _that_ look too. It was a look which said “I’ve come to gloat.”; and “Anything I say is probably the truth, but I’m going to say it in such a way that you’re not sure.”

Jasper looked down when the door opened; fear briefly flitting across his face and then the resolve was back. Monty didn’t realise he had done it, but his whole body tensed and he felt Jasper’s foot press slightly harder into his thigh in response. 

Aiden crouched down in front of Monty, a smile on his face. Monty kicked out with the leg which wasn’t being touched by Jasper but somehow Aiden caught it before it connected, a lightning fast move, and not for the first time Monty wondered whether Aiden was a mind reader.

“Tut, Tut, Mont. Surely you’ve learnt by now.” Aiden admonished, holding Monty’s leg to the floor. 

“Get your hands off him!”

Aiden turned, still holding Monty’s leg and looked at Jasper.

“Jealous, Jas? That’s not like you.”

Jasper was at a loss for words. Logically, he knew that Aiden was unhinged. He knew that Aiden had been playing both of them off against each other, but the easy going chatty way which Aiden talked, coupled with acts of violence, was making his head spin.

Aiden’s words from earlier echoed around Jasper’s brain - _You have to know your adversaries; because when you know their weaknesses, you know how to win._ Aiden was crazy, sure, but he thought he was brilliant as well - which he was, Jasper supposed, in his own way. If he could show Aiden that he saw that brilliance, that he wanted to be close to it, they both might just get out of here alive. He'd had the beginnings of a plan before but now the plan had solidified, the gnawing pain in his gut telling him that it was a stupid idea was studiously ignored.

He couldn’t look at Monty, not now, not if his plan was going to work.

“But I _am_ jealous, Aiden.” Jasper said, dropping his voice slightly so it sounded (he hoped) like a purr.

Monty lent his head back against the wall, tears pooling in his eyes but not falling. So that was Jasper’s plan.

“I am jealous.” Jasper repeated. “I want you all to myself.”

“Jasper, No.” Monty moaned.

Jasper still wasn’t looking at Monty, all of his focus was on Aiden, if he was going to sell this, then he couldn’t look at his best friend.

“What do you say, Aiden? Let’s go home. I’m sorry, okay? I was wrong. I see that now.”

Jasper moved the foot that was touching Monty and Monty felt bereft without that small pressure on his thigh. He didn’t want to watch but he couldn’t look away.

“Just take me home. I’ll stay with you, we can be happy. Mr Green is like my Dad, he’ll help us. He will. We can be together…”

Aiden glanced over at Monty.

“What about him?” He sneered.

Jasper shrugged and it hurt - both the feigned indifference and the movement itself, tied as he was.

“He’s a criminal. Tell the real guard where he is, they’ll arrest him, send him away. We won’t have to worry about him anymore. It’ll just be you and me, like it should be.”

Aiden looked between Monty and Jasper a few times, seeming to weigh Jasper’s words, he took a step towards Monty then and Jasper pressed the advantage home.

“I love you.”

Aiden turned round so quickly that Jasper thought he might fall. His eyes widened at the small sentence.

“You love me?”

Jasper swallowed past the bile in his throat and tried to convey as much caring as he could in his eyes.

“Yes, I love you. Now let’s go _home_ , okay?”

Aiden left the room for a moment and Jasper resolutely didn’t look at Monty even when he spoke to him. He would lose it if he even glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and he couldn’t afford that now.

“Jasper, you can’t do this. Jasper, Jas! Would you just listen to me? Jasper…”

When Aiden returned he had a guard with him. The guard fiddled with Jasper’s bonds, detaching him from the wall and pulling him to standing but keeping his hands tied behind his back. The guard looped an arm through Jasper’s so he couldn’t get away.

Jasper stood with his back to the wall whilst everyone waited, no-one spoke.

Eventually, a second guard turned up and Jasper assumed that it was a ‘real’ one because he immediately started speaking about the Ark Charter and commending Aiden for his citizen’s arrest.

Whilst it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that Aiden had set up another elaborate ruse, Jasper didn’t think that was the case, didn’t think he’d have had time. Added to which, the guard barely looked at Aiden and didn’t seem to be showing any of the deference the other hired muscle were showing.

Monty was removed from the wall and led away, glancing once over his shoulder as he did so. Jasper, whose gaze had been looking everywhere, not able to settle on one point now he didn’t have to sell to Aiden, locked eyes with him until Monty was pulled round the corner of the corridor and out of sight.

“I’ll take it from here.” Aiden said to the ‘guard’ holding Jasper. Linking his own arm through Jasper’s other side as the guard let go.

Jasper looked at Aiden with a confusion masking his face.

“I know you _love_ me now Jasper, but I’m going to keep you tied for the moment just in case your change of heart is fleeting.”

Aiden’s voice was conversational but felt threatening nonetheless. He led Jasper away, closing the door behind him as he left and didn’t speak at all until they were back in his cabin. Jasper couldn’t believe that they didn’t bump into one person all the way back, it seemed totally impossible on the busy Ark. He wasn’t sure what he’d have done if they had though, selling himself out to save Monty only worked if Monty was safe. He couldn’t trust that Monty would be until he was safely ensconced in Prison Station and maybe not even then if Aiden had reach inside there. It was the only thing he could think to do though so he’d taken his chance when it was offered.

“Home Sweet Home.” Aiden said, swinging the door wide and pushing Jasper inside. Jasper stumbled slightly on the lip of the door but managed to retain his footing; glad he didn’t fall as he didn’t have his hands at the moment to break it.

“Home Sweet Home.” Aiden repeated, locking the door behind him. 

The click was deafening and seemed to echo around the small, familiar and now re-tidied space.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jasandmonty is the most amazing beta anyone could ask for. Grammer and spelling checker, cheerleader and storyboarder when I panic I don't know what I'm writing (and reminds me that I DO, I've had a plan since the beginning).

Aiden answered the door to what Jasper could only assume was one of his lackeys. They had a hurried conversation and then Aiden closed the door and relocked it.

“Looks like we’ll be having some visitors.”

Jasper looked up from where he was sitting, a question in his eyes. He didn't trust himself to speak, he couldn't defend himself in the position that he was and he didn't want to risk drawing Aiden's ire unnecessarily.

“The guard are looking for you. Looks like your _boyfriend_ talked.”

Jasper couldn’t stop the look he gave Aiden then, knew that he’d shown him the hope in his eyes and kicking himself for doing so.

“I knew it.”

“What?” Jasper asked, hoping he could salvage the situation.

“You don’t want to be here.” It was a short sentence but it seemed to carry an awful lot of weight and expectation to it.

“Of course I do!” Jasper said, pulling acting skills he didn’t even know he had out of thin air. “I love you, baby. You know that!”

Aiden made a small harrumph noise in the back of his throat but didn’t press the issue. He clattered around in the bathroom for a moment and came back in. When he neared the bed he knelt next to the foot of it and ripped a long strip of sheet from the end. Jasper looked at him in confusion.

“Open your mouth.” Aiden commanded.

“What?” Jasper said, or tried to say.

All he actually managed to get out was “Wh…” before Aiden and shoved something inside his mouth. It felt like cloth but Jasper didn’t know what it was, as the odd strip of sheet was still dangling from Aiden’s hand. 

Jasper tried to expel the intrusion and even managed to get some of it out but Aiden was quicker; and, with his hands held behind his back, he couldn’t stop him when he shoved whatever small victory Jasper had had back into his mouth. Jasper was struggling now, trying to get free but the cuffs held and Aiden, standing as he was, had too much of an advantage. Aiden wrapped the piece of sheet around Jasper’s head several times before tying it off at the back. 

Jasper looked up at him with clear fear in his eyes and Aiden lamented the fact he didn’t have time to play with him before the inspection happened.

“Stay there.” He said to Jasper, who was still struggling in his bonds and hoping for a miracle.

Aiden removed a panel from the wall opposite the kitchen and propped it up against the wall next to the newly created hole. Walking back across the room, he roughly grabbed Jasper’s elbow and lifted him to his feet. It took less than a second to cross the room and Jasper’s eyes had got wider as they’d moved.

“Get in.” Aiden said, letting go of Jasper.

Jasper shook his head, tears pooling in his eyes.

“Get. In.” Aiden repeated. He shoved Jasper sideways and backwards so that he tripped over the lip of the wall cavity, slamming his back into the far wall. 

Jasper couldn’t think of anything worse than the small space he was apparently about to be entombed in and his struggles renewed.

“Oh, shut up. I’m not leaving you in here.” Aiden said cooly. 

Jasper stilled at that and went back to looking at the older man with confusion. Aiden got very close to him then, cupping his chin in his hands and holding his face steady.

“I’m not leaving you in here.” He said slowly. “But, if you make a noise, I will kill him slowly, whilst you watch, and then I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”

Jasper nodded his ascent, tears already falling from his eyes and making the already wet gag even wetter. He could barely breathe as scared as he was and the blockage in his mouth wasn’t helping.

Aiden returned the piece of wall back to it’s original place, winking at Jasper as he did so. The turning of the metal nuts, barely heard over the sound of his own ragged breathing, seemed like death itself to Jasper but he didn’t struggle, didn’t move, too much depended on it. He was plunged into darkness and he didn’t know if he was ever going to come back into the light.

After a few minutes, there was a perfunctory knock at the door and Aiden answered it. He allowed the guard to enter as soon as he saw who it was. Jasper could hear the muffled conversation through the wall if he strained his ears.

“I’m sorry to bother you Mr…er…” The guard looked down at a sheet in front of him. “…Stevens. We’re just following up on a report we’ve had from an inmate in the Skybox regarding a missing person.”

“Of course, what can I do to help?”

The guard looked a little uncomfortable, looking around and not making eye contact with Aiden. “We’re actually here to check your cabin for said missing person.”

Aiden laughed, a full laugh which seemed to echo around the chamber and gestured around the small space. “Well, by all means, go ahead. I’ll just make sure I’ve hidden them away before you search!”

Jasper may have been only feet away from the guard but he may as well have been on the moon and Aiden knew it. He could tell, from the way that Aiden spoke whilst he was joking with the guard, that his captor thought there was no chance he’d be discovered and Jasper was furious to find that he was right. He was poking fun at Jasper’s predicament and simultaneously deflecting any suspicion from himself. Jasper might hate the guy but he couldn’t fault his style, he really was a master of manipulation

The guard looked around the room for a few minutes, laughing when Aiden quipped. He looked in cupboards, “It would have to be a small missing person to be in there!”; In the small bathroom, “Not really the best hiding place for a missing person!”; and even under the bed, “Aren’t you scraping the barrel a bit there, want to look in the walls too?”

Aiden held the door for the guard as he was leaving. “Well, I hope you find whomever it is you’re looking for.”

“I’m sure we will. It would be difficult to hide someone for long; there are very few places to hide someone on the Ark. Thank you for being so helpful.” 

“Not at all.” Aiden replied, closing the door with a click.

The portion of the wall was removed moments later and it wasn’t until Aiden did so that Jasper realised he hadn’t been entirely sure that he was going to.

Aiden registered the naked fear on Jasper’s face as the light spilled into the space which only just held him. It didn’t really matter whether Jasper was doing this out of some misguided love for Monty, Monty was in the Skybox now and likely to die in less than a year and Jasper was here, willing to do anything to keep everyone alive.

If Jasper really _did_ love him, then he was sure he could find a way to exploit that too.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS NON-CON IN IT. DO NOT READ IT IF YOU MAY BE TRIGGERED BY THE CONTENTS.**
> 
> **CHAPTER 27 COTINUES THE STORY AND YOU WILL NOT MISS ANY SALIENT PLOT POINTS BY SKIPPING FROM 25 TO 27.**
> 
> **PLEASE STAY SAFE.**

After the ‘shoving him into a wall cavity’ debacle, Jasper thought Aiden would free him from his cuffs in the same way that he’d freed him from the gag, placing a fairly chaste kiss on his lips when he did so. 

He wasn’t so lucky. 

Either Aiden didn’t trust him yet (likely) or he was enjoying the fear that Jasper was showing at being effectively defenceless (equally as likely).

Jasper remained tied, his shoulders starting to ache, for hours. Aiden busied himself around the small cabin, occasionally stopping to look over at him, but they didn’t talk. Jasper didn’t know what to say in any case so he was pretty pleased he didn’t have to come up with any small talk. He’d condemned his best friend to potential death in a bid to save him and had in turn caused the predicament he was now in. There really was nothing to say and he was pleased for the brief reprieve he was getting in regards to his acting.

“Jasper, Jasper, Jasper.” Aiden said, moving closer with each repetition.

Jasper looked up from where he had been resolutely staring at the floor between his feet. He didn’t speak though, not trusting he could do so without either screaming or messing up somehow. He tried to inject some love into the look but wasn’t entirely sure he succeeded.

Aiden must have bought it though, because he carried on with his conversational tone. Somehow that was worse.

“See here, Jas. Whilst _I_ absolutely believe that you have fallen in love with me and you’ve turned your back on Monty after a lifetime of friendship, thousands wouldn’t so I’m going to keep you tied for now.”

Jasper felt like he’d been doused in cold water, the idea of being entirely at Aiden’s mercy was terrifying. He fluttered his eyelashes, feeling stupid as he did so, hoping to get him to change his mind. “But I do love you, Aiden. Come on, I’m not going to run, just let me rest my arms for a bit.”

Aiden stroked his hand down Jasper’s face. “I know, Jas. It’s just a precaution. I could probably make you more comfortable though.”

Jasper didn’t want to know what kind of precaution it was, he couldn’t think about any of this anymore, it was too much. He wished he hadn’t said anything, didn’t want to know what ‘making him more comfortable’ meant. He closed his eyes and lent into the movement, selling the role he had set himself as well as he could.

When Aiden started to kiss him, he had to remind himself to kiss back. There was a delayed reaction in the returned kiss but Aiden didn’t seem to notice, for which Jasper was thankful. He wasn’t sure what he would have said.

If he ignored the burning pain in his shoulders and the too bright light in the room, he could trick himself into thinking it was Monty he was kissing. That it was Monty who was lifting his shirt and running his hands over his chest and stomach. That it was Monty whose hands had travelled further up and were periodically tweaking his nipples. He could trick himself into thinking they were back in a dusty room somewhere in another station entirely, the dreams he’d had numerous times before becoming a reality.

Jasper was so lost in his fantasy, the fact he couldn’t touch making the sensations all the more strong, that he didn’t feel the cuff detach from his left wrist; and it was only when he felt himself pushed backwards that he opened his eyes, subsequently realising who was kissing him. The realisation quickly made him place his palms flat on the bed, his elbows locked to stop his downwards progress.

Aiden merely continued the downward descent, knocking first one and then the other of his arms apart to do so, causing the younger man to fall the last portion, bouncing slightly on the too thin mattress. Quickly lying almost on top of Jasper, Aiden caught both of his wrists again, a move made more easy because Jasper was attempting to push him away. He stretched Jasper’s hands above his head, re-cuffing them so that they were passed through the headboard, effectively restraining Jasper.

Then Jasper really did struggle, really did try to get away. 

“Aiden.” He whined, knowing he sounded scared but not able to hide it.

Aiden didn’t stop his hand’s movement, currently running up and down Jasper’s side, making him shiver slightly.

“What, Jas?”

“Aiden, don’t.”

“Don’t?” Aiden’s eyes darkened. “Don’t what?” He brushed a hand across Jasper’s clothed crotch, pressing slightly at the bulge growing there despite himself. “Don’t do this? Why not? You seem to be enjoying it.”

Jasper gritted his teeth to stifle the moan, his body betraying him. Maybe he shouldn’t have been fantasising about Monty earlier, it was going to be his undoing.

“Don’t touch you?” Aiden continued, running his hands up under Jasper’s T-shirt and across his stomach. Moving to his chest, he rolled one of Jasper’s nipples through his long, nimble fingers. “Don’t run my hands across your body?”

“Don’t kiss you?” He said, before removing his hands and taking Jasper’s face in both, giving a bruising kiss.

Breaking off, Aiden carried on. “You said you loved me. Don’t you want to give me this? All I want is to make you happy.”

“Then let me touch you too.” Jasper said, wanting to at least have a modicum of control of the situation; and knowing that his voice sounded pleading even to his own ears.

“No.”

The small word sounded like a death knell to Jasper and he had no idea what else to say. He wasn’t sure what he’d got himself into; wasn't sure why he thought everything was going to be okay as soon as he knew Monty was safe and wasn't sure why he didn't realise Aiden would always be in control, that he'd always been at least two if not five steps ahead of him the whole way. He kicked himself for thinking he could outsmart him.

Getting off him entirely, Aiden began to lift Jasper’s T-shirt up as far as he was able, leaving it tangled in his forearms, unable to remove it fully due to the restraints.

Aiden lay back down, this time on his side and off Jasper, apart from a leg which was slung over both of his, effectively pinning him down. He ran his hand down the side of Jasper’s chest, feathery touches which portrayed a gentleness that Jasper didn’t think this situation had.

Aiden seemed to do that for an age, chasing his hands across Jasper’s bony frame, occasionally tweaking a nipple and kissing Jasper languorously. 

Jasper was still struggling periodically, hoping that by some miracle the cuffs would break that time he did so. He was desperate to get away from Aiden’s ministrations and at the same time unable to deny that Aiden’s skill with his hands was causing him to stay aroused, despite the turn of events.

When Aiden unzipped Jasper’s trousers, his own body still remaining entirely clothed, Jasper attempted to reason with him again.

“Aiden…” He started.

Jasper didn’t get to finish what he intended to say, couldn’t even remember what he was going to say because suddenly Aiden was inside his boxers, palming his cock and squeezing and releasing him at a slow pace.

“Yes?” Aiden enquired, a smirk on his face.

Jasper moaned and arched into the touch, he couldn’t help it. Part of his brain was screaming at him that this was wrong, that this was exactly what he _didn’t_ want and another, much louder part of him was just saying ‘More’ over and over again.

Aiden spent the next half an hour teasing Jasper, drawing him right to the brink of orgasm and then backing down before starting all over again. The feather-light touches which Aiden was tracing down Jasper’s sides were torture and the not-enough pressure on his crotch and tugging on his nipples was driving him crazy.

After a while, Jasper was just panting with need, all semblance of fight beaten out of him with the way Aiden was playing him, his deft fingers seeming to know exactly what they were doing.

When Aiden removed his hands for what seemed like the millionth time, Jasper lifted his head, his eyes lidded and looked at his tormenter, trying once again to get his hands free from the cuffs which held him.

“Aiden…” His voice sounded broken even to him, unsure how much longer he could cope in this emotionally heightened state.

“Yes?” Aiden replied, feigning an innocence Jasper knew full well he didn’t have.

“Aiden…” Jasper repeated not sure what he even wanted to say. ‘Stop’ and ‘Oh God more’ were warring in his mind and he didn’t know which one was going to win.

Aiden started up again, bringing Jasper even closer to the climax he sought. He was thrashing in his bonds know, making a soft keening noise in the back of his throat, all his thoughts consumed with need.

“Aiden…” He repeated for a third time.

Aiden looked down at him then, stroking his long fingers up and down Jasper’s side and eliciting a shiver from the younger man.

“Beg me.”

“What?” Jasper gasped, Aiden’s fingers had once more found a nipple and were tugging on it with one hand. The other hand was running all the way down from his neck to the tops of his thighs, entirely ignoring Jasper’s impotent thrusts and the area he really wanted him to focus on.

“Beg me and I’ll let you come.”

Jasper looked at him then, eyes wide. Unable to ignore the roving hands, he moaned once again, arching into their touch. He opened his mouth to say something, unsure what that was going to be and Aiden took the opportunity to kiss him once again, plundering his mouth in a hard kiss which did nothing to alleviate his need.

They carried on like that for some time and Jasper found as time went on the voice in the back of his head which said he couldn’t beg Aiden for what he desperately needed got smaller and smaller. He felt like his body was entirely taut, the way that Aiden had his legs pinned and his hands cuffed above his head gave him very little movement, the very fact causing the sensations to be overtaking him more than he thought they would normally do. Not that he’d really had much experience with this sort of thing.

At some point he realised he was crying, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes as he tried to get free, the sensations overwhelming him. He felt like he was going to die if he didn’t come soon. He knew it didn’t make any rational sense but he just could not cope with the torture anymore, the feelings weren’t unpleasant of course; but the onslaught without any hope of release was too much.

It was just one small word, what could it hurt? Anyone would give up under these circumstances after a while and there was no shame in it. The smaller voice was saying it was just an orgasm, he didn’t need it, Aiden would use this against him somehow in the future but he could barely hear that voice anymore.

He arched up once more into Aiden’s touch when he tugged on one of his nipples. He moaned low and long and then spoke, the words sealing his fate.

“Aiden, please.”

~~~

When he came to (and did he just _pass out_ from an orgasm?) he found that he was once more dressed and that his hands this time were cuffed in front of him, which was progress, he thought. He felt clean as well and the fact Aiden had cleaned him somehow made him shudder more than the memory of what had happened.

Aiden was smirking at him from the seat over by the desk and the predatory look in his eyes did not go unnoticed by Jasper.

What had he just done?


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jasandmonty is epic.
> 
>  
> 
> _And no, you haven't missed a chapter, this is how this chapter starts. :)_

Figuratively having blood on one’s hands wasn’t a phrase Jasper thought of often. 

If he did, it was normally in the world history classes they were all required to take in a desperate effort to make the first generation on the ground not make the same mistakes as the last. There were no shortages of people in history who had blood on their hands either through action or indeed inaction. 

Actual blood on your hands was warm and sticky Jasper thought and lent a slight tang to the air which wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Jasper was surprised to find he was entirely numb to the events of the last few minutes. Resting on his haunches, staring at his hands wasn’t eliciting any feeling at all other than the fascination with how the light reflected off the glistening read liquid; and the complete stillness of everyone and everything in the cabin.

Distantly he knew he should be doing something, knew he should move but the urgency to do so was entirely lost in this weightless state he was now apparently in.

Eventually, when the blood had dried, Jasper came to; hearing voices which seemed to be shouting at him. He felt rather than saw someone grab his shoulder and moments later he was yanked to his feet, still not hearing or understanding the talking properly.

When his hands were drawn behind his back and held, he was suddenly brought back into the room and into his body. He was under threat. He kicked and fought against his captors who seemed to be everywhere at once. He fought against his now once again bound wrists, feeling completely helpless but refusing to give up and roll over...again.

It was only when a shock baton was drawn and electricity jolted across his abdomen that his movement stilled somewhat. His legs crumpled of their own accord, his stomach hurting and body convulsing with after-shocks.

His hands were trapped beneath him but his eyes were wide, waiting for the death that was inevitable now. His body was limp, there was no way he was getting out of this.

A shadow fell across his prone form and he looked upwards, messy hair once more getting in his eyes. He noted the gun at the hip of this new character, the shock baton still drawn in his other hand.

Jasper felt a sort of peace come over him and he closed his eyes.

“Jasper Jordan, you are under arrest for the murder of Aiden Stevens. In accordance with the Ark Charter you will be remanded to Prison Station until you reach the age of majority.”

Oh, right. He’d killed Aiden. 

That would explain all the blood.

~~~

Being processed through the prison administration took far longer than Jasper would have thought it would. They kept asking him questions but after the initial fight that he’d had with the guard he could barely move let alone think to answer anything.

The evidence was pretty damning anyway. 

Some goon or other of Aiden’s had knocked on the door and when there had been no answer had walked in. Jasper, unseeing at this point hadn’t even heard it happen. The first he’d known about it was when he was being shouted at by the guard. Apparently nearly an hour had passed between the goon finding Jasper with blood on his hands and the guard turning up with said goon. Jasper hadn’t moved in that entire time and so even though he didn’t give any statement corroborating or denying the series of events, the guard had decided he was guilty and set to processing him through the system.

They weren’t wrong and Jasper couldn’t be bothered to fight any more anyway. The idea of spending eight months in a cell and then oblivion finally taking him was one that he was actively seeking. It sounded incredibly peaceful.

When he saw his parents, he nearly broke but he found very quickly he didn’t know what to say to them either. He knew he mumbled things like ‘Aiden kidnapped Monty’ and ‘did what I had to do’ but the hurt looks on their faces proved that they didn’t understand. How could they? Their only son had committed murder and where it had been drummed into them since birth that there was no excuse for any crime, he couldn’t blame them for their confusion. He wanted to scream at them that Aiden was evil: that he’d fooled everyone; that he’d done The Ark a service with what he’d done; but he found he just didn’t have the energy. There didn’t seem to be much point in any case. He was a murderer. There wasn’t any distinction to it and them being disappointed in him was just another thing in a long list of things he would have to deal with for the next eight months.

After that it wouldn’t matter.

~~~

Processing over, Jasper was shoved down corridor after corridor with little disregard for his wellbeing. He’d dealt with worse, so he didn’t bother to complain and to be honest he probably deserved it. At no point over the last few hours had guilt seeped into his consciousness about what he’d done and surely that made him a bad person in and of itself. 

He deserved to be floated.

His entourage stopped at a non-descript door which looked the same as all other doors he’d seen for the last ten minutes. Jasper felt the cuffs loosen at his back and he was pushed unceremoniously through the new door, which closed behind him as soon as he was through it.

He turned anyway, knowing that it wouldn’t open but realising he was starting to panic about being hemmed in again, whether he deserved it or not. He wasn’t sure being in a box for eight months was going to be good for his sanity.

“Jasper?” A familiar voice asked, wonder in the tone.

Jasper turned slowly and looked up in the direction of the voice.

“Monty?” Jasper replied, his legs suddenly buckling and forcing him to sink to the floor.

Monty was over at his side in a moment, checking him over for injuries and generally looking surprised.

“You’re okay.” He stated. Then, when there was no response, he continued. “Are you okay?”

“I have no idea.” Jasper replied and that was the complete truth.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jasandmonty is a STAR.

Time in the Skybox wasn’t all that different to time on the rest of The Ark.

They still had lessons (such as they were) but without any access to a lot of the practical things like botany or chemistry it was difficult to learn. The teachers didn’t make it any easier. They weren’t punctual and were often much harsher than they had been previously, even to students whom they had previously liked. 

It seemed like they’d all been written off despite their myriad of infractions. Even the kids who had done really little things were victimised in the same way, which hardly seemed fair. One of the children had been locked up for hitting a guard when her parents were floated and the teacher who taught them Maths had reduced her to tears anyway.

It took a while for Jasper to open up to Monty, even after his initial admission that he wasn’t okay. Monty knew something was up of course; but he also knew that Jasper couldn’t be rushed when something was on his mind.

The first ‘proper’ conversation happened in the middle of the night.

Monty awoke in the darkness and couldn’t for a moment work out why he had done so. He did his usual stiffening of all of his muscles at once, holding his breath until he realized he was probably not going to die at Aiden’s hand in here. Although who knew how far Aiden’s reach really went? If he had people on his payroll in the guards, it stood to reason he also had people on his payroll who were Prison Station workers.

Jasper shifted on the other side of the cell they shared and lay on his back. He couldn’t get comfy, couldn’t get his brain to stop whirring. He didn’t know where to start explaining to Monty all that had happened; and didn’t know how much, if anything, he should leave out. Were there parts of the story that would make Monty hate him? Make his last months on this stupid space station worse? Would _not_ telling him make their relationship a lie?

“I kissed him first.” Jasper admitted to the dark room.

Monty took a while to answer. It wasn’t because the admission shocked him but because wasn’t sure what he should say, what Jasper _needed_ him to say at that moment. He took so long to answer that Jasper started to think Monty wasn’t awake after all, that he’d somehow lost the portion of himself attuned to Monty. Maybe he wasn’t allowed that anymore. Maybe that was his penance for what he’d done. He didn’t feel guilt for his actions so the universe was punishing him in some other way.

Jasper had turned back on to his side, away from Monty and facing into the wall. Maybe he could work up to the conversation. Maybe he could say things when Monty was asleep first, so that the words weren’t foreign on his tongue when he eventually got up the nerve to say them again out loud.

“What was it like?” Monty asked quietly.

Jasper turned back round so quickly he nearly fell off the narrow cot, his arms flailing wildly.

A giggle escaped from Monty. He couldn’t see Jasper but he could picture him perfectly in his mind and it was such a completely 'Jasper' move. It was a welcome relief to know that he was still under there somewhere, beneath the quiet and withdrawn Jasper that Monty wasn’t sure he knew.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“You talked first!”

“Yeah? Well you were already awake.”

Monty smiled into the darkness at that, revelling in the fact Jasper could tell he was awake even when he couldn’t see him. They were bonded in a way he couldn’t explain or even describe. Moments like these made the butterflies that were often present when he thought of Jasper flutter madly in his stomach.

They lapsed into silence again. Jasper not sure if he should repeat what he’d said and Monty not wanting to push Jasper if he wasn’t ready to continue.

After another exaggerated sigh, Jasper just decided to go with it. He’d never kept a secret from Monty before and he didn’t want his last few months to be a lie. Not when whatever ‘this’ was, was so important. He sat up, placing his feet on the floor, looking in Monty’s direction, even if he couldn’t see him.

He had a few aborted starts; but eventually he managed to tell Monty some of what had transpired. He told him how grateful he’d been when Aiden had found him; how lost he’d felt when Monty’s dad had filled him in; how he’d wished he found Monty sooner; how whenever he thought about Aiden it made him feel sick; how the idea that he’d been falling for this guy whilst Monty was being tortured played on his mind all the time.

It took hours but eventually Jasper stopped talking, pouring out all of his fear and all of his sorrow about what had happened. He still hadn’t told Monty the really important stuff, still couldn’t quite bring himself to explain what had happened in the last week he’d been with Aiden.

“In answer to your question though…” Jasper started, pausing and still not knowing quite what he was going to say.

He took another deep breath and tried again.

“In answer to your question, at the time it was perfect and filled me with such relief that I wasn’t alone.”

Monty didn’t talk, barely even breathed.

“But now…now it’s just…it’s just like ash in my mouth. The thought of it makes me sick. How could I have… You were…and I was…and he just…”

Monty recognised the familiar strains of Jasper’s mind faltering, his ability to speak failing him and the beginnings of him shutting down, closing in on himself. He leapt off his own cot and launched himself across the small cell, crashing into Jasper and wrapping his arms around him just as his best friend’s first tears started to fall.

Jasper struggled. He tried to get away from Monty, he didn’t deserve this, didn’t deserve the support he was getting, shouldn’t be allowed to be the one falling apart.

Monty hung on, knowing what Jasper was attempting to do. It was a classic Jasper tactic, not letting himself accept help when he thought he’d done wrong. It had happened so many times over the years that Monty sometimes found himself moving to comfort Jasper before Jasper had even realised he was going to need comforting.

Jasper stopped moving, leaning into Monty’s comforting embrace, listening to the whispered soothing words in his ear even as one of Monty’s hands rubbed circles into his back.

Monty didn’t know how long they sat there like that, Jasper facing Monty’s now vacant cot and Monty embracing him in an awkward sideways hug. What he did know was that at some point, he’d moved the arm that was hugging Jasper’s chest and it was now resting on Jasper’s thigh, the other arm having moved from his shoulder to the small of his back.

When Jasper’s hand found his, turning it over so that his palm was face up and he was able to clasp Monty’s hand in his own, Monty’s heart skipped a beat. This was new. This was a level of comfort and familiarity that they hadn’t attempted before. Sloppy stoned kisses weren’t holding hands in the dark and leeching support off each other. This was something else entirely.

Monty leaned his head onto Jasper’s shoulder, squeezing Jasper’s hand slightly as he did so. Jasper moved ever so slightly and suddenly they were kissing. One hand was still clutching each other, resting on Jasper’s thigh; and the other snaking up into each other’s hair, deepening the kiss.

They were breathless when they finally separated. Jasper’s head was spinning slightly and Monty’s legs were like jelly.

Monty and Jasper both attempted to break the silence first, talking over each other and then giggling. The moment of awkwardness was over as soon as it started.

They lay down after that, squashed together on the single bed, hands still clutched together. They took solace in the fact that whatever else was going to happen and whenever they had the ‘big’ conversation, they would be okay. They could get through _anything_ if they did it together.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running out of ways to thank Jasnandmonty for being such an amazing beta.
> 
> **This chapter references past non-con elements to the story which happened in 'downtime' between chapters. In that way, it could be potentitally triggering. PLEASE BE SAFE.**

They seemed to have one conversation over a number of months and, in between, they explored the new found change in their relationship. Nearly dying was apparently something which brought silly things like: worrying whether the other person liked you sober; into perspective.

Suddenly, hands were everywhere, lips met whenever there was a chance and knowing glances were exchanged over the mealtimes with the ninety-four (at last count) other young offenders. They may have been through hell but they were still teenagers and hormones didn’t seem to take into consideration how stressful recent events were, they were still horny as anything. 

All in all the new definition of their relationship was familiar; it was easy; but they both knew at some point they were going to have to talk about the proper stuff. They let themselves have the lie though, for as long as possible, not wanting to spoil anything.

After Jasper’s first admission a few weeks ago, it made sense that he felt blurting statements out into the darkness was the easiest way to do it.

Monty understood that, he did; but he wished he’d just talk to him; wished Jasper would remember that there was nothing he could say or do which would make him like him any less; wished Jasper would _trust_ him.

~~~

This time though, it was mid-afternoon. They’d been locked back in the cell an hour ago after their lunch and Jasper hadn’t said a word since they’d both sat down on their respective beds. 

Jasper was biting his lip and had been for at least ten minutes, a sure sign that he was building up to something. Eventually, he sighed.

“You haven’t asked me what I’m in here for.”

Monty shrugged, dangling his legs over the side of his bed like a child -the height difference between them more apparent as he did so.

“I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”

Jasper made a non-committal noise and went back to biting his lip, eventually wincing as he worried it enough to draw blood.

~~~

Another afternoon, nearly a week later, they’d been making out for quite some time when Jasper started to undo Monty’s trousers. This was nothing new and Monty in turn reached for Jasper’s as well but Jasper batted his hand away. He smiled into the kiss and pulled away long enough to whisper that wasn’t the plan, stilling his hand on Monty’s fly. 

Monty was confused; but willing to go along with whatever Jasper was up to. He had that mischievous glint in his eye which meant he wouldn’t tell him what he was up to even if Monty asked; and, if Monty was honest, it wasn’t like he was upset about the current state of affairs. Let Jasper have his secrets as long as he didn’t stop kissing him. As long as he never stopped kissing him.

Jasper pulled Monty’s top over his head and went back to kissing him. Jasper stayed fully clothed, despite Monty’s attempts to disrobe him and that was totally hot for some reason. Every time Monty tried, Jasper batted his hand away and went back to kissing him wherever he had left off.

Jasper was kissing Monty’s collarbone and nipping and sucking slightly at the skin in ways which Monty knew would mark but he really couldn’t bring himself to care. Monty was so distracted by the way Jasper sucked his nipple into his mouth and bit gently that he didn’t immediately register that Jasper had gone back to opening his trousers.

When Jasper let his nipple go with a wet popping sound and started to kiss down his side, Monty stopped trying to paw at Jasper’s annoyingly clothed visage. Jasper was going out of reach anyway and Monty couldn’t work out why Jasper was suddenly on the floor until he looked up through his messy brown hair, actually winked at him and then took Monty into his mouth.

Monty made a sort of strangled sound and somehow got harder, (a fact that until this point he hadn’t thought was possible), leaning his hands back against the bed and trying very hard not to arch into Jasper’s mouth.

Jasper was smiling around Monty; the litany of broken words coming out of his friend’s mouth was beautiful and he couldn’t help but grin. He reached up to fiddle with Monty’s nipples again with one hand whilst the other hand remained at the base of his shaft. He found that if he swallowed, Monty gasped; so he did it a few times before returning to sucking and running his tongue over the head.

Monty wasn’t even forming words anymore, just panting and moaning. Jasper briefly wondered what would happen if one of the guards walked in; but he couldn’t really bring it in himself to care. He found he had so much love for Monty in this moment; he wanted to give him anything. He wanted to brush away all of the demons and let them have at least this one moment of pure bliss before it all inevitably fell to pieces again.

Monty did try to push Jasper away after a while and Jasper knew why, so he just knocked Monty’s hand away and sucked harder.

With a cry, Monty came, spurting down Jasper’s throat and shuddering as Jasper swallowed it all down, sucking him dry. When he’d stopped, Jasper pulled away, sucking as he did so and producing another obscene pop when he removed his mouth.

If it were possible at that moment, Monty was sure that the picture of Jasper slowly extricating himself from Monty’s groin, looking up through his hair as he did so with barely veiled lust, would make him hard again. As it was, his dick gave a weak jump and Monty almost commended it for the effort.

“Oh. My. God. How did you get so good at that?”

Jasper looked up at him from his position on the floor, his eyes darkening and suddenly pooling with water. He wiped at them angrily and plastered a fake smile on his face, getting to his feet and sitting back down on the other bed.

“Guess I’m just naturally talented.”

Monty quickly covered himself up and despite his jelly legs, managed to move so he could sit next to him.

“Shit Jas, I’m sorry I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s fine.” Jasper said quickly. Too quickly.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Shut down. It’s me, remember? It’s us. Nothing about ‘us’ is going to be scary. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to talk abo…”

“No.” Jasper said firmly. “No,” he repeated softer, a real smile appearing this time, a smile which reached his eyes. He could get through absolutely _anything_ with Monty by his side. “No, I don’t want to talk at all.”

With that pronouncement, Jasper threw his arms round Monty and swept him up in another kiss which left the other man breathless. Monty was left with no doubt that although Jasper didn’t want to talk about it now, he wasn’t going to deflect when they did talk about it; and that he wasn’t deflecting _now_ by distracting him quite expertly with his tongue. 

Monty may have just had the best moment of his short life but that didn’t stop his dick from jumping again slightly even so. For his part, he was just quite happy to be thoroughly kissed and then reciprocate, having just learnt a few things. 

It was only fair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand that's the story of how I coined the phrase 'bittersweet blowjob'.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jasandmonty, Jasandmonty and Jasandmonty. 
> 
> That is all.

“I could see you.” Monty said, a few days later.

“What?”

“I could see you. There was a video feed in Aiden’s cabin.”

Jasper looked up quickly, a blush forming on his cheeks. It took him a moment to realise that Monty had been in the Skybox for the recent sexual encounter he’d had with Aiden, so at least he hadn’t seen _that_ \- but the idea still made him feel uneasy.

He opened his mouth a couple of times to say something, anything, but didn’t manage it.

“It’s okay, Jas.”

Jasper stared at Monty – it wasn’t okay and he didn’t know why Monty was lying to him, he never had before. He once again tried to talk but the words just wouldn’t come.

“Jasper,” Monty said more firmly, moving over to ‘his side’ of the room. “It’s _okay_.”

Jasper just fell to pieces. Tears fell gracefully down his sculpted cheekbones and he turned his face into Monty’s chest as soon as the hug was proffered.

He didn’t know how long they stayed there like that – it was way past the point at which Jasper had stopped crying – but Monty never stopped rubbing small circles into Jasper’s back, attempting to soothe his sadness away.

~~~

“He put me in a wall.”

Monty glanced across at Jasper, not able to make anything out in the dark room but wanting to be looking at him nonetheless. Monty didn’t really want to hear about the wall. Aiden’s taunts about him being able to satisfy Jasper and Jasper not wanting Monty were fresh in his mind; despite recent events proving that Jasper clearly _did_ want Monty. He’d listen though and he’d try not to be jealous; he’d listen because if this was one of those things Jasper felt he couldn’t talk about until now, it must have been important; he’d listen and try to be a good friend even if he could feel the jealous rising already, unbidden.

“Hmm?” Monty replied, not really trusting himself to speak. It was Jasper who needed to get this off his chest anyway so he didn’t have to talk much if he didn’t want to. He could do this; he could be strong for Jasper.

“Yeah.” Jasper carried on conversationally.

That was when Monty knew this was going to be bad and that this had really affected Jasper. If Jasper was talking conversationally then it was a forced lightness and not at all what you’d expect. If Jasper was sounding bright then he was anything but. Monty braced himself for the conversation to continue.

“Yeah…it was, I don’t know. Did you tell the guard about what happened in that room? The, the room when I went…um…away?”

Monty was confused now. He supposed there could have been multiple times Aiden had slammed Jasper against a wall; but he’d got the impression at the time that Aiden had done it originally to upset Monty - he’d done it when he’d known Monty was watching. So what was to be gained from him doing it when Monty was locked up?

“Yes I did. Of _course_ I did. For all I knew you were being...Look I thought you might get hurt. Did he hurt you?” 

They were getting dangerously close to territory they hadn’t spoken of before. Aiden was off limits, they hadn’t even said his name. They were afraid, Monty assumed, that if they did say his name out loud; that Aiden would know and the nightmare would start all over again.

Jasper chuckled ruefully.

“No, he didn’t hurt me.” He replied quietly.

Monty let out a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding. He could get through this whole thing if Jasper hadn’t been hurt. Aiden could have played all the mind games he wanted; and of course that was going to have an effect on Jasper; but the fact of the matter was they were both alive, both here and Aiden hadn’t won, even if it took Jasper a while to see that.

“He didn’t hurt me.” Jasper repeated, pausing again. “Okay, so…right.” There was another pause.

“You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.” Monty said, trying to eliminate the hurt in Jasper’s voice.

“No,” Jasper said more firmly. “No, I kind of do.”

“Okay.”

Jasper sighed again and then Monty heard him shifting in his bed. He could imagine him sitting up and leaning against the wall with his head, his eyes closing even though he couldn’t see anything in the dark room anyway.

“After you’d been arrested, he took me back to his cabin again and it was kind of like he didn’t know what to do with me to begin with. He kept me tied and…”

Monty’s sharp intake of breathe didn’t go unnoticed by Jasper but he had to continue, had to get this out whilst he had the courage to do so.

“…and then this guy came to the door. I didn’t hear what he said but then Aiden was moving towards me and he started ripping his own sheet to pieces, which I didn’t understand. Then he just shoved something in my mouth and wrapped the ripped sheet round my head. I fought him, I did but I was still tied and I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t do _anything_ and I thought that was it, you know? I thought I was going to die.”

Monty moved then, sitting up himself, unsure whether he should go to Jasper or not. He didn't know whether Jasper needed to get this out on his own or whether his presence was required. This was definitely not to do with anything good. He was ashamed that he’d heard ‘wall’ and his own selfish desires had taken over in not wanting to hear what Jasper had to say; pleased despite that that Jasper couldn’t see the look on his face – lest he mistake Monty’s own self-loathing with disgust for Jasper.

“He…he pulled this section of wall free and he just put me in there. I thought he was going to just seal it up and leave me there, even though he said he wasn’t going to. Like how was I supposed to trust the guy? He said if I didn’t stay quiet he would kill you.”

Monty suddenly didn’t care whether Jasper needed his support or not, _he_ needed support. Maybe that was selfish but he couldn’t help it. He got up off his bed and crossed the small cell. By the time he’d got there, Jasper had shifted so he was leaning against the wall opposite Monty’s bed and his hand was already laying on the bed, ready to clasp Monty’s as soon as he reached for it. It was pitch black and yet they were still able to connect in a way he didn’t think was possible.

“I let him…I let the guard search his cabin and I didn’t say a word. I heard him making jokes; he made _jokes_ Monty about the guard checking the walls for a missing person. I was less than a metre away and I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t…”

Then Jasper was crying and Monty was hugging him and trying not to cry himself. Monty had never wished another person dead before but he found himself once again wishing Aiden would simply die. Just drop dead on the spot wherever he was in this stupid Space Station and never hurt anyone ever again.

If there was any justice in this life, then his wish would come true.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta, JasandMonty, is one of my favourite people in this whole world.

“I had no idea whether I was getting out of this or not.”

Jasper looked up, saw Monty’s resolve and the way he wouldn’t look at him and didn’t interrupt.

“I…when I woke up originally, it was so dark, you know? I was tied to this post or something and I kept thinking ‘what have Jasper and I got into this time?’ and then after a while I realised this wasn’t just us passed out in Agro station. I didn’t…I wasn’t really sure what to do; for days I was in the dark; and I didn’t really understand what was going on. I kept expecting them to kill me but they didn’t; and the longer it took for them to do it the more confused I got. Then _he_ turned up and he killed this guard, this guy who’d sort of partially told me what was going on. I mouthed off a bit, didn’t know how dangerous he really was then and he was…that’s when he told me mum was dead.”

Jasper looked up when his friend paused, the wound of his second mum’s death still fresh, even though it must have been months ago now. Monty was staring at the ceiling and seemed to be mouthing words to himself.

“You don’t have to…”

“I think I do.” Monty replied, cutting him off.

Jasper knew full well the cathartic nature of blurting out everything that was on your mind and so he waited patiently for Monty to continue. When he didn’t, Jasper got up – having decided the distance between them was too great – and sat next to Monty. They were joined all down one side, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh, ankle to ankle. The presence seemed to make Monty relax slightly and he carried on talking.

“He asked me once you know, after they’d moved me to a different room. Asked me after they’d all beaten me up a few times, after I’d seen the feed into Aiden’s cabin and knew that you were there, that he could hurt you. He asked me what I’d do to save you and I knew, I knew that the answer was just going to give him fuel; but I couldn’t risk it if he really _was_ offering me the exchange.”

Jasper turned to look at Monty then, his face unreadable. Knowing full well what he’d have done if the positions were reversed, knowing full well that that was essentially what he’d played on when he’d had Monty arrested and he’d gone with Aiden. The fact that Monty had done the same thing made him feel simultaneously totally loved and yet also so desperately sad.

Monty carried on looking straight ahead but he did take up one of Jasper’s hands in his own, squeezing gently.

“So I said ‘Anything’ and he just…he just _sneered_ at me. Like I was nothing, like I was completely beneath him. He just said ‘Good to know’ and left me in that room again. Left me to imagine what he might do to you, left me to watch that damn screen and hope that this time wasn’t the time I saw you die.”

Monty’s voice cracked on the last word and Jasper immediately let go of his hand and enveloped him in a strong embrace. He tried to convey with his long arms which were squeezing Monty all the love that he had for him; tried to convey that this was real now, this was safe, that they were free.

He knew he was going to have to tell him.

~~~

It was another afternoon chat and Monty still couldn’t fathom a pattern of which conversations were afternoon and which were night time ones. This time though, he was the one to initiate the conversation. He’d only realised that morning that he’d been using Jasper’s shorter moniker for weeks now and there’d been no repeat of Jasper telling him not to. He very much hoped that Jasper was over it and felt safe from Aiden now that they were in here; very much hoped that Jasper wasn’t just hanging in there and desperately upset with Monty for forgetting, waiting for the right moment to tell him he’d been hurting him.

“Jasper, how come I can call you ‘Jas’ now?”

“Because you’re the only one who does, the only one that can.”

“What do you mean?” Monty asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer. 

He hadn’t at first; but Jasper’s reactions to things, the way he answered certain questions had made him wonder. Jasper’s complete 180° turn on the nickname was the last piece of the jigsaw and was pretty telling in and of itself. Initially, he refused to acknowledge and actually jumped whenever Monty called him that; and that had changed to the way he loved it when Monty said it now, almost reverently and sometimes pleadingly if Jasper was nipping his earlobe.

“You never asked why I was put in here and I never told you and I’m sorry for that. I’m also well aware that this might make you dislike me now so I’m fully prepared for that eventuality. I’m sorry if you feel I’ve led you on over the last few months. It’s my birthday soon and I know we’ve been avoiding thinking about it but I think we both know I’m not getting through it, if we’re honest I think we both know _neither_ of us are getting through this…and I can’t bear to think that you’d die thinking I was some sort of hero, that I’d traded myself for your life and was some sort of saint. I think…I think if I’m going to be floated, I need to know that you know the real me.”

If Monty had had any doubts they’d have been eradicated by that speech and the fact Jasper couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Jas…”

Jasper held his hand up, briefly looking at Monty and then averting his gaze.

“No. Just let me…just let me try to say this.”

“Okay.” Monty said quietly, sitting very still, not wanting to startle Jasper.

Jasper sat there for a long while trying to work out what he wanted to say. Giving a blow by blow account of that last day seemed very stark, almost psychopathic but he thought if he injected any emotion into it he’d fall to pieces and he’d never get the information out.

How was he supposed to tell Monty that: after weeks of being restrained in some form or another; after weeks of weighing up the pros and cons of yelling for help and how that would affect Monty’s predicament; after weeks of being scared out of his mind; when he’d finally been allowed the freedom to walk around the cabin without hindrance he hadn't known what to do? How was he supposed to put into words the utter relief that having that small freedom granted gave him? How could he adequately convey the terror of Aiden stalking up to him and wondering what was going to happen this time? How could he tell him that every time Aiden kissed him he wanted to throw up? What was he going to say to explain that this murder was pre-meditated? How was he going to explain to Monty that he’d spent at least a week running scenarios in his head as to what he could do? How was he going to figure out a way to explain that although it was thought out it still wasn’t an easy decision to make? Who was likely to believe that even though he planned it he was remorseful of the act? 

He cleared his throat and then thought better of it, more questions warring inside him.

How could he explain the fear he had, both fear that he’d succeed and fear that he’d fail? How do you explain to someone you love that you’ve done the one thing that every culture in the history of mankind found abhorrent? What words was he supposed to use to describe the way he’d jumped out at Aiden as soon as he’d closed the front door that day? What words should be string together to describe the way they’d wrestled across the floor, raining blows down on each other, each getting the upper hand at certain points? How was he supposed to explain how when he’d bashed Aiden’s head on the floor once and that had dazed him for a second; he’d taken the advantage and carried on pummelling his face with his fists? How was he supposed to tell Monty about the way he’d hit Aiden until he couldn’t feel his fists and then carried on some more; all the rage and fear from all of the months he’d been tormenting them coming out in one long stream of violence? How could he say that he’d liked it in that moment? That he’d felt powerful? In control? That he’d revelled in the fact that he was killing him – and he’d _known_ he was killing him? How was he supposed to pass on the message that it was one or the other? How was he supposed to say that if he hadn’t killed Aiden then Aiden would have killed him and he would have welcomed it – it would have been a relief? What was he supposed to do about the description of the way the blood felt on his hands afterwards? And what about the catatonic state he’d been in until the guard had arrived? How was he supposed to tell Monty that some days he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel clean again; that sometimes he still saw the red on his hands?

**How was he supposed to say he still didn’t feel guilty?**

In the end, he settled for the most important part of it and figured if Monty wanted the details he would ask.

“He’s dead. Aiden’s dead…and I killed him.”

The proclamation was met with silence and Jasper was afraid to look up, afraid to look into Monty’s eyes and see the disgust there. Afraid that he’d just lost a lifetime of friendship with eight small words.

“Good.”

Jasper looked up quickly, meeting Monty’s steely-eyed gaze. He could see a fire there but he knew instinctively that it wasn’t a fire for him. It wasn’t a look of loathing. It was a look of total acceptance and the firm word that accompanied it was more than Jasper could have dared hope for.

“Good?” He had to ask.

“Of course ‘good’!” Monty threw up his hands then brought them down again, counting off on his fingers, accentuating his points. “Jas, this guy blackmailed my parents, killed my mum, kidnapped me, played mind-games with you and served countless addicts on this station. Of _course_ ‘good’. I hope the bastard burns.”

Jasper was shocked for all of two seconds, never having heard the language or the venom in Monty’s voice before. He launched himself off the bed and into Monty’s arms hugging him tightly and mumbling into his hair.

Monty carefully extracted himself from the hug after a while, although he kept Jasper at arms-length, retaining the contact.

“What did you say?”

“I said ‘I thought you’d hate me’.” Jasper repeated, quietly and letting his eyes drop.

“Hate you?” Monty replied, tilting Jasper’s chin up so he could meet his eyes. “Hate you? I want to give you a damn medal. He can’t hurt anyone else ever again. I know you didn’t want me thinking it but I can and will think it if it’s true. You are a hero.”

“Shut up…” Jasper started to reply.

Monty just cut him off with a kiss, cut off any protestations that Jasper was going to offer. He tried to show in that one action all the love that he had for him; all the love he _still_ had for him despite his actions; and hoped that Jasper knew how much he meant to him. 

As far as he was concerned the matter was closed; and if they only had a couple more weeks until Jasper was eighteen; then he was going to make them the best two weeks of Jasper’s life. 

He tried not to think that in all likelihood they’d be the last ones he would have; tried not to think about what he’d do for the three months without him until he joined him; tried not to think about what he’d do if he _didn’t_ join him, if they let him go. 

He couldn’t imagine a life without Jasper so if this was all they had left, then he was going to give it his all.


	32. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a pretty amazing three-month journey and it absolutely couldn't have been done without my glorious beta, Jasandmonty.
> 
> She has been beta, cheerleader and all round fire-fighter, especially when I knew what I wanted to write but couldn't actually write it. The amount of times she got an email saying "This chapter can bite me!" and responded with words of encouragement were numerous.
> 
> This story came out of nowhere and morphed into something I wasn't expecting but I'm so pleased how it turned out.
> 
> Thanks to all of you who sent me encouragement on here and on Tumblr ([follow me if you want](http://accal1a.tumblr.com)). Comments made me want to continue even when I wasn't feeling like I wanted to write so honestly THANK YOU.
> 
> You're all awesome.

The door sprang open and Monty sprung up, fists out, ready for anything and assessing the threat immediately. It wasn’t the normal time for them to be let out so he knew straight away that something was wrong.

Jasper’s first thought was that Aiden had found them and they were going to die. He knew it was impossible but somehow that was his first thought anyway. He wondered how long it would take for him to stop seeing Aiden in every shadow, every unexpected noise. He wondered if he’d ever get over it, if he’d always feel like he was covered in blood - warm and sticky blood which seemed to say at once “you’re free” and “you’re damned”. He wondered if he’d always look at his hands twice, blinking in between, watching the red fade away into the pale tone of his skin.

Monty, his hands no longer in fists, had his arm flung wide, attempting to protect Jasper from the guards entering the room who were, he now realised, shouting orders at them.

“Backs against the wall!”

“What’s going on?” They chorused, backs ramrod straight and eyes darting around at the new additions to the room.

“I said, ‘AGAINST. THE. WALL.’”

They pushed them then and Monty’s newly clenched fist went flying, connecting with a guard and the familiar feeling of a shock baton to the legs was his reward. He went down on one knee, still glaring at the guard even as his body convulsed.

The guards circled them then and the formation was so similar Monty saw another room, another place and knew this was it, this time they died.

He barely felt the cuff go round his wrist even though it stung slightly when what he thought must have been tiny needles entered his skin. His wide eyes were now on Jasper who still hadn’t moved, frozen in the same way Monty had seen him several times over the past few months. His best friend was standing stock still in the middle of the room, unheeding the guards who were still shouting, unseeing. It was a sort of state which Monty knew meant Jasper was away with memories, a state that only he could bring him back from.

He lied, like he’d never lied to Jasper before. It was the only thing he could think to do. It was vitally important that Jasper died knowing he was loved, didn’t die thinking of _him_.

“Jas! Jas, listen to me. We’re okay, we’re going to be okay, everything is fine. Jasper I just need you to listen to me. Listen to my voice.”

He felt a tiny prick on his neck and the world started to fade around the edges. He saw Jasper slump to the ground and wanted to go to him, to hold him and keep whispering reassurances in his ear but he couldn’t move. He was so tired.

The last thing Monty thought before oblivion took him was that at least Jasper looked peaceful and that was all that mattered really.

~~~

Jasper woke in a panic.

This was nothing new and therefore the actually ‘new’ sensation of plummeting through the air didn’t immediately register.

When he looked down and saw he was restrained he instantly looked for a release, scrabbling at the too bright straps that held him, not understanding what fresh hell had been dreamt up for him this time. His eyes scanned the new room and he saw faces he didn’t recognise, searching each for the one he knew had to be here. This feeling of panic only came with one person attached to it.

Eventually, he found a catch and both hands grabbed it like it would hold all the answers. He was about to press down on the button when a familiar hand stopped him before he could do it.

“Bad idea.”

“Monty?” Then, quieter, his breath still coming in ragged gasps, “Monty. What the hell is going on?”

Almost as if summoned by his voice, several screens lit up around the – spaceship - Jasper’s brain supplied, confused as soon as he’d thought it. He knew he was right, that the word fitted the room he was in, he just couldn’t work out why he could possibly be right. Why weren't they on The Ark anymore?

A particularly fierce jolt broke their hands apart as Chancellor Jaha appeared on the screen and started to explain that they were being sent to the Earth. Jasper idly wondered whether Earth would be far enough away to slay his demons for good. 

He looked across at his best friend (because whatever else he was and could be, he would always be his best friend first), Monty was looking a little sick and Jasper reached for him again, giving his hand a quick squeeze as he did so.

After Jaha had finished, there was a stunned silence in the room. Jasper took advantage of it, leaning across as far as the straps would allow so that he could speak quietly with Monty.

“This is our chance at a new life. We’ll have nothing to be scared of down there.” The _no-one to be scared of_ was unsaid but Jasper knew Monty heard it anyway.

Monty nodded, holding Jasper’s hand tighter.

As the dropship shuddered, dropping through the atmosphere, it sent them plummeting to a new life and they both felt the beginnings of hope. It was a feeling that neither of them had had in a while but they felt that everything was going to be okay now.

Despite all the jolts and bumps, they didn’t let go of each other until the ship had landed on Earth. 

They had taken comfort in the presence of the other throughout the tumultuous journey – and the analogy was not lost on either of them.

**~THE END~**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *breathes* I'm off to have a cup of tea now, I think I deserve it.


End file.
